Islamabad, Pakistan (AHN) - Pakistani officials on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of two suspected militants wanted in the brutal slaying of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Police officer Saghir Mugheri said suspects Agaur Rehman and Faisal Bhatti were arrested Monday in Kashmor, a town 300 miles northeast of Karachi.
But a lawyer for the men's families said security agencies arrested the two in 2003 and that they have been held in secret since that time.
Rehman and Bhatti are believed to be members of the al-Qaida-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Rehman is thought to be the leader of the group that kidnapped Pearl.
Rehman, who also uses the name Naim Bukhari, kept the journalist in a shack for several days before he was killed.
Horrifying video footage of the decapitation of the Wall Street Journal reporter shocked the world and triggered widespread anger among investigators in May 2004. In the video, it was apparent that Pearl knew of his impending death for several hours but refused to be sedated.
He was believed to be aware that the Arab extremists would cut his throat. But the camera operator did not record the moment of his death, and the militants re-enacted the killing before decapitating Pearl.
Investigators in Karachi said both suspects were also involved in the murder of two Iranian engineers in 1998, the killing of two Shiite Muslim lawyers in 2000 and an unsuccessful attempt to release a fellow militant from a prison van in 1998 that left two guards dead.
Investigators in Karachi said both suspects were also involved in the murder of two Iranian engineers in 1998, the killing of two Shiite Muslim lawyers in 2000 and an unsuccessful attempt to release a fellow militant from a prison van in 1998 that left two guards dead.
Mugheri said police seized the pair in a car traveling toward Baluchistan province and that weapons and explosives were found in the vehicle. He said they would be transferred to Karachi for further investigation.
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