Pakistani police are raiding homes looking for clues and suspects in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, a police official said on Friday. Police also detained the uncle of a man thought to have e-mailed photos of Pearl in captivity. In Islamabad, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he was extremely hopeful that the case would be solved successfully.

Investigators had hoped to rescue Pearl before Musharraf leaves for the United States and a meeting next week with US President George W. Bush.
The chief suspect, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, remained at large. Police were searching for his relatives and friends, said Farooq Awan, a deputy superintendent of police in Karachi, where Pearl disappeared Jan. 23. “Most raids were being conducted in the eastern city of Lahore, others in Karachi,” said Awan. He said police were also questioning the uncle of Farhad Naseem, who was found to have photos of Pearl on his laptop computer.
“We are working on a variety of clues. We are hopeful that the case will be solved very soon,” said Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh, the government official in charge of police in Karachi in Sindh province. “I believe that Pearl is alive. We are getting near,” Musharraf told reporters at a joint news conference with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. We got some key personalities.” Musharraf refused to elaborate.


Bureau Report