Pakistani Police Arrest Pearl Suspect

A Muslim cleric identified as a prime suspect in the abduction of the Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, is being held in police custody, Pakistani officials said today.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, refused to say when or where Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani was arrested or whether he surrendered voluntarily.

Pearl, 38, was trying to arrange an interview with Mr Gilani, the leader of a small Muslim fundamentalist group, when he disappeared in Karachi on January 23.

Police raided Mr Gilani's residences in Lahore and Rawalpindi but could not find him.

His mother, sister and about 10 other relatives were then taken into custody, a tactic commonly used in Pakistan to prompt suspects to surrender.

The previously unknown national Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty has claimed responsibility via email for Pearl's abduction.

The message included pictures of Pearl, who is the South Asian bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, in chains with a pistol pointed at his head.

The group also gave a list of demands, including better treatment for Pakistanis held by US authorities with other al-Qaida suspects at Camp X-ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Wall Street Journal has expressed grave concern for Pearl's welfare but said it was not in a position to affect changes at the camp.

The kidnap has attracted the attention of the highest authorities in the US, including the secretary of state, Colin Powell.

General Powell telephoned the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, urging him to use all his powers to find Pearl.

The Pakistani authorities said Pearl was probably being held by a radical Muslim faction linked to the al-Qaida terrorist organisation.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute has also asked General Musharraf "to do everything within your power to help secure the immediate and unconditional release," of Pearl.

General Musharraf's spokesman, major general Rashid Quereshi, said in Islamabad yesterday that Pakistani investigators were using "all means available" to find the journalist.