The group that claims it has kidnapped a Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan sent an e-mail to news organisations on Wednesday threatening to kill him within 24 hours unless the US government released Pakistani prisoners held in the Afghan war. The e-mail, sent to The Wall Street Journal, CNN and The New York Times, among others, accused correspondent Daniel Pearl of being a spy for Israel. It also warned other US journalists in Pakistan to leave the country within three days.
"We talked to Daniel Pearl and we learned that he is not a CIA officer but is the agent of Mossad (Israeli intelligence)," said the statement, which was obtained and translated from Urdu by Reuters. "So for this reason we are giving a warning that if America in 24 hours does not meet our demands, we will kill Daniel Pearl."
It was not immediately clear when the 24-hour deadline would lapse. An earlier e-mail identified the previously unknown group as "The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty."
Wednesday`s e-mail was accompanied by photographs, including one of Pearl sitting on the floor with a pistol held toward his bowed head and another of him facing the camera with his wrists bound together by a thick chain. The Wall Street Journal denied the claim the 38-year-old Pearl was a spy for Israel, as it has the one made in a previous e-mail that he was spying for the US government.
"We have seen the latest communication from the people claiming to hold Danny Pearl," the newspaper said in a statement. "Pearl, a US citizen born in the US and a working journalist all of his adult life, is not an agent of any government or agency. He is a reporter for us -- nothing more or less. He cannot affect the policy of the US or Pakistani government. Nor can we." APPEAL FOR DIALOGUE

In an interview with CNN, Marianne Pearl said she and her husband went to Pakistan because "we wanted to know more about the people and write about their views. We keep working on that same idea of how are we going to create a dialogue because we know the world is not easy.
"I am pregnant. I am going to have a baby. We are trying at our level to create a better world," said Marianne Pearl, who is also a journalist. "It sounds like big words but that`s our life. ... I love Pakistan."
Pearl was working on a story about alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid, who is being detained in the United States ahead of trial on charges he tried to blow up an airliner. Reid allegedly traveled to Pakistan shortly before being
Bureau Report