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CNN Live At Daybreak

Police Say They're Closing In on Daniel Pearl's Kidnappers

Aired February 06, 2002 - 05:02   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: Now for the latest on the search for Daniel Pearl. Police say they are closing in on his kidnappers.

We get the latest from CNN's Ben Wedeman in Karachi.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Karachi police say they are closing in on the kidnappers of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. According to sources close to the case, three men have been arrested, going by the names of Adel (ph), Suleiman (ph) and Fahad (ph). The three have been linked to a computer from which the e-mails containing photographs of Pearl in captivity were sent. At least two of the three were picked up by Karachi police near the airport here on Tuesday evening.

Now, according to those sources close to the investigation, one of the men arrested overnight has confessed to receiving e-mails from with, e-mails with Pearl's photographs from one Sheikh Omar Saeed, a Pakistani militant with a British passport. Saeed was freed by India on 31 December 1999 to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight which was diverted to Kandahar. Saeed is closely linked to two banned, hard-line Islamic groups, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen and Jaish-e- Mohammad, groups which have been active in Pakistan focusing on the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Both groups are widely linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. A spokesman for Harkat ul-Mujahedeen tells CNN that they have no links to the kidnapping, saying that as banned groups they themselves are running from the police and therefore aren't in much of a position to hide someone else.

Now, Saeed and one other unnamed suspect remain at large.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Karachi.

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