ISLAMABAD, Pakistan'Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was abducted a month ago while investigating Islamic militants, has been killed by his captors, the newspaper and officials in the United States and Pakistan said Thursday.
The announcement was made after a videotape containing grisly footage of Pearl being executed was delivered to authorities in Pakistan and relayed to the U.S. consulate in Karachi, according to U.S. and Pakistani sources close to the investigation. Pearl's body has not been found, but authorities said they believe the videotape is authentic.
However, much remains unknown about Pearl's fate. The full scope of who was involved in the kidnapping has not been established. It is not known when he was killed or under what circumstances. Pakistani investigators had detained several suspects, but in recent days appeared to be making little progress.
The videotape left no doubt that Pearl was killed, according to the sources familiar with it. The videotape shows Pearl speaking with someone, almost as if he were conducting an interview, when suddenly an unseen assailant takes a knife to his throat, according to a Pakistani source. The tape includes no date, no audio and no faces other than Pearl's, the source said. A man claiming to be a journalist delivered the tape to police in Sindh Province, according to a U.S. source.
\All Americans are sad and angry to learn of the murder,"" President Bush said in Beijing shortly after he was informed of Pearl's death. Linking the killing to the war on terrorism, Bush, who is on a state visit to China, added, ""Those who would threaten Americans, those who would engage in criminal, barbaric acts need to know that these crimes only hurt their cause, and only deepen the resolve of the United States of America to rid the world of these agents of terror.""
""We are heartbroken at his death,"" said the Journal's publisher, Peter Kann. ""Danny was an outstanding colleague, a great reporter and a dear friend of many at the Journal. His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny's kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots.""
Pearl, 38, who was the Journal's South Asia bureau chief, disappeared Jan. 23 after going to a restaurant in the port city of Karachi in southern Pakistan to meet with intermediaries he hoped would arrange an interview with an Islamic cleric.
