January 30, 2002

2:48 PM

The latest on the WSJ Reporter ... Damn. "The group that claims it has kidnapped a Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan has sent e-mail to news organisations threatening to kill him within 24 hours unless the U.S. government released Pakistani prisoners held in the Afghan war."
posted by MidasMulligan (20 comments total)

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"Could be raining."
posted by swift at 2:50 PM on January 30, 2002

Poor guy, I hope he somehow makes it out alive.

Does anyone have any links concerning a White House response to this matter?
posted by Mach3avelli at 2:54 PM on January 30, 2002

The US is keeping its responses to a limited level, via the State Department and FBI. There is of course concern, statements denying that he's a CIA agent, and we've mobilized law enforcement resources, but we've learned from kidnappings in Lebanon years ago that escalating this thing is the wrong approach.

Hmm -- Yahoo seems to have switched to a new CMS with uglier URLs than before. Ya frickin' hoo.
posted by dhartung at 3:01 PM on January 30, 2002

I'd heard earlier today that they were accusing him of being a mossad agent now. This guy has got mad skillz.

On a serious note, my heart really goes out to his family. I can't imagine what they are going through right now.
posted by revbrian at 3:04 PM on January 30, 2002

total disrespect of america, journalism, and the solid leadership of George Herbert Bush.
posted by tsarfan at 3:12 PM on January 30, 2002

"We have interrogated Mr. D. Pearl and have come to the conclusion that contrary to what we thought earlier, he is not working for the CIA," said the statement, according to CNN.


Hurrah!

"In fact, he is working for (Israel's) Mossad, therefore we will execute him within 24 hours unless America fulfills our demands."

ARRRRGGG.
comes across like some badly written movie evil-guy. It will be funny someday if he makes it out of there alive...lets hope they are bluffing.

swift...i think it IS raining.
posted by th3ph17 at 3:27 PM on January 30, 2002

Completely farcical story that will no doubt be swallowed wholesale in Pakistan.
posted by xammerboy at 3:29 PM on January 30, 2002

I am hoping for the best. My he worked for my uncle at the London bureau of WSJ (yes, my dad and uncle both work for WSJ). My uncle went to his wedding, and from what I hear he is a great guy.
posted by adampsyche at 3:57 PM on January 30, 2002

I wonder what they think they will gain, exactly. If they think the "solid leadership of George Bush" will allow the release of all those prisoners, they must be dreaming.

Maybe what they really want is the removal of American journalists?
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 4:50 PM on January 30, 2002

My initial reaction to this was to think: My God, there are some stupid people with guns out there. But then I realized, maybe they realize how silly their claims are and how ridiculous their hope of influencing US policy is. They just don't value human life, and if kidnapping and killingsome innocent journalist gives them a 1% chance of achieving something, it's worth a shot.
posted by gsteff at 5:22 PM on January 30, 2002

what they really want is the removal of all traces of the existence of pakistan and its inhabitants from the face of the planet. this is just their way of requesting it. while it may seem odd to us, we should respect their cultural differences and oblige them.
posted by quonsar at 6:07 PM on January 30, 2002

CNN has an interview with her wife. What a touching interview, and damn was she composed. If my spouse were in those conditions I would be shitting twinkies.
posted by adampsyche at 6:29 PM on January 30, 2002

Adampsyche,

It's actually quite amazing how composed people under pressure can be. A couple of people I know survived through kidnapping ordeals (travelling around the world and going to international schools means you get to meet such interesting people) and they told me that things were so odd that they just couldn't react at first. It's kind of part of the daily life for international journalists...
posted by TNLNYC at 6:50 PM on January 30, 2002

what they really want is the removal of all traces of the existence of pakistan and its inhabitants from the face of the planet.

Are we sure these guys are really Pakistani? And not people fronting for Pakistan, like the Taliban in Afganistan. After all, I'm sure most Pakistani's aren't particularly happy that these guys are representing for their country right now.
posted by dness2 at 6:51 PM on January 30, 2002

These kidnappers are people who want journalists out, so that the rest of the world can't find out what's happening inside Pakistan. Hope the media takes a dignified approach to the story. No need to encourage the criminals to try this more often.
posted by sheauga at 7:28 PM on January 30, 2002

FOX News aired a disturbing picture of Pearl with a gun held to his head and in shackles. I thought that was totally uncalled for.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 7:48 PM on January 30, 2002

That picture was also on the front page of CNN.com most of the afternoon. They changed it around 6pm PST.
posted by Potsy at 9:37 PM on January 30, 2002

Looks like the picture of Pearl in shackles and a gun to his head is back on CNN here.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 4:29 AM on February 1, 2002

CNN is now reporting that he was killed Friday. Unconfirmed email though...more at the news sites, you know them.
posted by bittennails at 11:45 AM on February 1, 2002

Here's a link tothe story. One group claims that he's been killed, while another group is demanding money for his safe release. I wonder which is true.
posted by David Dark at 11:47 AM on February 1, 2002