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American Morning

Latest on Disappearance of Daniel Pearl

Aired February 04, 2002 - 10:10   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back overseas now, and get the latest on the disappearance of Daniel Pearl. He was the American journalist who was abducted in Pakistan about 12 days I ago.

Ben Wedeman in Karachi tracking the latest developments from there.

Ben, good evening to you.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good evening, Bill.

Well, there aren't really many latest developments here. It appears that the Pakistani search for Mr. Pearl has really run into a dead end. At this point, they are looking into the possibility of involvement by criminal elements in the kidnapping. They are looking into the possibility that possibly Mr. Pearl isn't even in Karachi any more. It's worth noting that nothing verifiable has been received from the kidnappers since last Wednesday. That was the last time an e-mail was received by Pakistan and international news organizations that contained a photograph of Mr. Pearl. And we have all seen those photographs time and time again of Mr. Pearl with his hands bound by chains, of photographs of the American journalist with a gun to his head.

At this point, the Pakistani police are saying that any e-mail that does not contain a photograph of Mr. Pearl will be considered bogus.

Now, early Monday morning, Karachi time, yesterday afternoon your time, there were reports that a body had been found by the side of a road here in Karachi. Some reporting in fact that that was the body of Mr. Pearl. However, it turned out that that was not the case. "The Wall Street Journal" said that that was not Mr. Pearl's body. They say they do believe Mr. Pearl in fact is still alive. They appealed to the kidnappers to resume some sort of communications with them and to provide a new photo of the captive journalist.

Now, today, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Treasury is in Islamabad and one of the items a the top of his agenda will of course be the case of the missing journalist -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Ben. Ben Wedeman live in Karachi, thanks.

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