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American Morning

Pakistani Authorities Widen Search for Kidnapped Reporter

Aired February 04, 2002 - 08:14   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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Twelve days after he was kidnapped, there is still no reliable word on the fate of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Now, authorities in Pakistan today are widening their search for Pearl. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Karachi, Pakistan with the latest now -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, they are, indeed, widening their search geographically and otherwise. Here in Karachi, they still believe that probably a hard-line Islamic group is behind the kidnapping, but now they are looking into the possibility of involvement by the very extensive criminal underworld here. Also, whereas officials are telling us they do believe that Pearl is somewhere in or around Karachi, now they are also spreading the search to adjacent provinces as well.

Now, it has been quite some time since a verifiable message has been received from Pearl's kidnappers. The last one was on Wednesday. That was the last time an e-mail was received by Pakistani or international news organizations that included a photograph. At this point, the police are saying if they do not get a photograph of Mr. Pearl with any of these e-mails, they will consider them bogus. And that certainly has been a problem of late. Until now, 12 people have been arrested in this case, but most of them have been arrested for sending these bogus e-mails.

Now, early Monday morning Karachi time, there were reports that a body had been found by the side of a road in this city. Later, the "Wall Street Journal" determined that that was not Pearl's body. They say they do believe he is still alive. They called upon the kidnappers to resume communications, to send another e-mail and also to provide them with a photograph of Mr. Pearl.

Now, in Islamabad, the capital today, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official is in town. He will be talking with Pakistani officials about, among other things, the Pearl kidnapping -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Ben Wedeman in Karachi, Pakistan -- thanks very much for that update.

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