Appeal for kidnapped journalist launched

The employers of kidnapped American journalist Daniel Pearl say they believe he is still alive, despite e-mails sent on Friday saying he had been killed. "Based on reports from Pakistan, we now believe that both of the messages received yesterday about Danny were false," the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, Paul Steiger, told the BBC on Saturday. "We continue to believe that Danny is alive." A day earlier, Reporters without Borders (RSF - Reporters Sans Frontieres) launched an appeal to five Muslim religious authorities for the correspondent's release. The kidnappers, members of the little-known National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, have threatened to execute Pearl unless demands for detainees from the war in Afghanistan, held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, were met. "Although the identity of the kidnappers and their reasons remain unclear, we hope such an appeal will have a positive impact on the kidnappers," RSF spokesperson, Vincent Brossel told IRIN from Paris on Friday. While there is no real hierarchy in the Muslim world, there are some leaders that are more prominent than others and it was hoped by appealing to them directly, they could help gain the release of the 38-year old journalist, he explained. The five Muslim authorities include King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful in Morocco, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, president of the University of El Azhar and former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Nizamuddin Shamzai, the Mufti of Karachi in Pakistan, and Sheikh Mohammed ben Saleh el Othimin from the Majles kibar el Ulama of Saudi Arabia, and Sheikh Qaradawi, Mufti of Qatar. In a letter released on Thursday by the Paris-based group, RSF secretary, Robert Menard said: "Aware of your faith in an Islam that respects human dignity, we would be very grateful if you could make a public statement to the kidnappers asking them to release David Pearl." Pearl disappeared in the Pakistani city of Karachi on 23 January while investigating a story on the alleged shoe-bomber - Briton Richard Reid, who allegedly attempted to blow up an American Airlines plane over the Atlantic in December. Despite a massive manhunt by Pakistani authorities, the Bombay-based correspondent hasn't been seen since. Calling for the release of Pakistani Taliban fighters held by the US army, Pearl's kidnappers criticised Washington for not providing lawyers and trials for Pakistanis detained on terrorism-related charges. Later they launched an ultimatum on Wednesday saying they would execute Pearl in 24 hours. But US Secretary of State Colin Powell has ruled out any possibility of negotiating with Pearl's kidnappers, saying detainees at Guantanamo Bay, whose conditions the kidnappers say they want to improve, were being treated humanely as confirmed by visits from various country representatives and humanitarian groups. In a BBC report on Thursday, Powell said: "The demands that the kidnappers have placed are not demands that we can meet or dealt with." The latest e-mail from the group reiterated that if the US does not meet its demands, they would kill Pearl, the report added, saying: "this cycle will continue and no American journalist could enter Pakistan." Earlier the group sent photos by e-mail, showing Pearl with a gun pointed at his head. Asked if he was hopeful, Brossel said while gravely concerned, the fact that the kidnappers on Thursday had postponed his execution for 24 hours demonstrated to them that pressure and support from human rights groups, activists, family and friends, was having an affect. He appealed for greater mobilisation, particularly in Pakistan, in an effort to find a negotiated solution to the matter.

Daniel Pearl - Kidnapped Journalist

RSF has also expressed solidarity with a call by Steiger to the kidnappers who said: "I hope that the messages I have conveyed to you have convinced you that no good of any kind will result from your execution of Danny Pearl. Only through Danny's safe release can your group have the opportunity to tell your side of the story and to have the entire world focus on your words." Meanwhile, the kidnapping of a western journalist in Pakistan has frightened scores of foreign news men and women covering the humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Afghanistan and the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India. "While there is no sense of panic, we are always at heightened alert following the Pearl kidnapping," Washington Post correspondent, Molly Moore told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. "I don't think any of us would go alone to interview any of these questionable organisations now," the veteran journalist said