US Indicts Pearl Suspect

A US federal grand jury has indicted a key suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was charged with hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, resulting in the death of Pearl.

If Mr Saeed is extradited to the US and convicted of this charge, he could receive the death penalty.

Mr Saeed is being detained in Pakistan, where authorities are also interested in prosecuting him for Pearl's death. US and Pakistani authorities have been discussing extradition, but no agreement has been reached.

The indictment, brought by a federal grand jury in New Jersey, alleged that Mr Saeed trained in military camps in Afghanistan and fought with Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

It said he sent email messages from Chaudrey Bashir, Pakistan, to Pearl at his Wall Street Journal office in the same country in January, to set up the reporter's kidnapping.

The US government also unsealed an earlier indictment against Mr Saeed charging him with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, and aiding and abetting in connection with the 1994 kidnapping of Bela Nuss.

Government officials said the Muslim militant had not yet charged Mr Saeed with murder because the FBI is still developing more evidence.

They said the case was being handled in New Jersey because prosecutors determined there was "substantial nexus" between Pearl and the federal court jurisdiction where the headquarters for Pearl's employer, Dow Jones, is located.

Pearl's newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, has been operating out of a makeshift headquarters in New Jersey since its New York offices were heavily damaged by the destruction of the World Trade Centre.

A decision to press forward with a US criminal indictment caps weeks of deliberations within the justice department and state department about how to proceed, even as Mr Saeed faced criminal proceedings in Pakistan.

US officials, eager to move the case ahead, have been in discussions with Pakistani officials about the prospects for sending Mr Saeed and other suspects to America.

The two nations have no formal extradition agreement, but Pakistan previously has sent suspects to the US under a procedure known as "rendering".

Four suspects have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with Pearl's murder, including Mr Saeed, the alleged mastermind, while others remain at large.