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CNN Saturday Morning News

Conflicting E-Mails Make Pearl's Fate Uncertain

Aired February 02, 2002 - 07:02   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with the case of the kidnapped American journalist. CNN's Ash-har Quraishi is in Karachi, Pakistan, where Daniel Pearl was last seen a week and a half ago -- Ash-Har.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Miles, investigators here are still looking into claims. Two messages coming in late in the evening, claiming both to be from the kidnappers. These are conflicting messages that we've seen, one in an e-mail message sent to various media organizations. In that e-mail, they claim to have killed Daniel Pearl because his -- their demands had not been met.

Investigators here, police here in this -- the port city of Karachi have been investigating that e-mail. They've sent out officers to some 200 cemeteries and graveyards overnight and into the day, searching to find any sign of Daniel Pearl's body, as it was said in that e-mail, "His body," they say, "was dumped in a graveyard in Karachi." No specific graveyard referred to in that e-mail.

In another message, a conflicting message received at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad via phone, the kidnappers, the alleged kidnappers in that message say that they have extended their deadline to 36 hours, also changing their demands a little bit, saying that they're asking for $2 million as well as the release of the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef.

At this point, authorities say they have not been able to authenticate either message, but they are investigating both seriously. At this point they will not say any more about them, but they will say that they're treating these very seriously and that they have to investigate everything that comes their way in terms of leads, anything that may or may not be authenticated. They're investigating everything, they say, right now, even if it may be a hoax -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: OK, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

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