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CNN Live At Daybreak

Editor Sends E-mail to Pearl's Captors

Aired January 30, 2002 - 06:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The "Wall Street Journal" is pleading for the release of one of their reporters who has been missing since last week. The "Journal's" managing editor sent an e- mail to Daniel Pearl's captors in Pakistan denying that Pearl works for the CIA.

For the latest on this developing story, CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi joins us live by videophone from Karachi, Pakistan. Ash-Har, take it away.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, at this point it's been about a week now since Daniel Pearl went missing from here in Karachi. At this point authorities are saying that the investigation is in full force, but they're being very tight lipped about any new developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QURAISHI (voice-over): The people who know this city best will tell you that being an American in Karachi is a dangerous thing.

FARHAN BOKHARI, FINANCIAL TIMES CORRESPONDENT: There are parts to this region where sentiment against the U.S. and the Western world in general runs very high. And when you go out and about on your beat to report on events, you're obviously exposing yourself to people in the public who are quite angry, also groups, which are very angry.

QURAISHI: Karachi is Pakistan's largest city with a population estimated at around 12 million. It is a hot bed of extremists and sectarian violence. Police say there were over 500 kidnappings last year. Sources say Daniel Pearl was working on a story about jihadi groups in the region and possibly the underworld.

We are told he was seen around this restaurant in the heart of this upscale commercial area in Karachi the evening he disappeared. Jameel Yusuf, head of the Citizens Police Liaison Committee, he is believed to be the last person to have spoken with Pearl before his disappearance.

JAMEEL YUSUF, CITIZENS POLICE LIAISON COMMITTEE: He got off from here at about 6:50, and he was supposed to meet somebody at 7:00, and he seemed to be very pleased to be having an appointment, even though it was a very careless piece of work by trying to arrange such an appointment without leaving any trail behind. QURAISHI: It is believed that he got into a car here along with an unknown number of men who were supposed to be taking him to meet that source. CNN has learned that Pearl was warned not to go to this meeting alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now sources are telling us that the source that Daniel Pearl was going to meet here in Karachi was a man named Sheik Mubarak Ali Jalini (ph). Jalini (ph) is the leader of a group called al-Fuqran (ph), which has been reportedly tied to al Qaeda. Now we've spoken to people close to the Sheik, and the Sheik says that he had arranged no meeting with Daniel Pearl, that the people who Daniel Pearl was meeting with had no association with him.

The authorities here that we've spoken to say that they have made headroom, and that they have made arrests. But at this point they're not willing to say what group that they have arrested, or what people are tied to right now in Pakistan -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Karachi, Pakistan.

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