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Search Goes On in Pakistan for Kidnapped American Reporter VOA News 10 Feb 2002 11:42 UTC 
Pakistan and U.S. authorities are still searching for kidnapped American journalist Daniel Pearl, but no new leads have been reported since Friday, when three people were arrested in the case. Pakistani police are also looking for Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, known as Sheikh Omar. He is suspected of masterminding the abduction of the Wall Street Journal correspondent, who was kidnapped January 23rd in Karachi. Police say two e-mail messages containing photographs of Mr. Pearl in captivity were sent from the computer of one of the Pakistanis arrested Friday (Farhad Naseem), who told police he received the pictures from Sheikh Omar. In India, meanwhile, authorities say their prime suspect in last month's attack on an American cultural center in (the city of) Calcutta also has links to Sheikh Omar. The suspect, Aftab Ansari, is now in custody in India, after being extradited from the United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested one day after the January 22nd attack in Calcutta. Aftab Ansari is believed to have organized the attack, which killed five policemen and wounded 20 other people. India's Central Bureau of Investigation says a connection has been established between Aftab Ansari (who is also known as Farhan Malik) and Sheikh Omar, who was freed from an Indian jail three years ago after Islamic extremists hijacked an Indian Airlines jet. Sheikh Omar is said to be a leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group. Pakistani authorities say he also is allied with the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden.
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