A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted a British national Thursday in the kidnapping and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, paving the way for United States efforts to try the case on American soil.
Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, a Muslim militant who was previously charged in a separate kidnapping, was accused by U.S. authorities of orchestrating a plot to lure Pearl into captivity in Karachi through the use of fictitious e-mails and other subterfuge.
Saeed, who is in Pakistani custody, was charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking that resulted in Pearl's death, and hostage-taking that resulted in the reporter's death. Both crimes are punishable by death.
Pearl, 38, the Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped in January while researching a story about connections between Islamic militants in Pakistan and Richard Reid, who allegedly attempted to blow up an airliner in December with bombs hidden in his shoes. Almost a month later, a video containing grisly footage of Pearl's slaying was delivered to the U.S. consulate in Karachi.
