Three Pakistani militants who led police to the body of Daniel Pearl claim the Wall Street Journalreporter was murdered by an Arab two days after he tried toescape from kidnappers, investigators said today.
The alleged new details of Pearl's kidnap and killing do not exonerate British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted with three others on July 15th.
Saeed was sentenced to death by hanging and the others received life sentences.
However, their claims, which have been rumoured for weeks in Pakistan, could influence the appeal filed by Saeed and the others with the High Court in Sindh province.
Some of the new purported details conflict with evidence presented at the first trial.
Pearl, 38, was kidnapped on January 23 in Karachi while researching links between Pakistani Islamic extremists and Richard Reid, who was arrested in December on a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives in his shoe.
Two police investigators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three militants have admitted playing a role in Pearl's kidnapping.
However, they have not been charged, and the Pakistani authorities have not even acknowledged officially that they are being held.
According to the two police officers, the militants said Saeed telephoned them on the evening of January 23rd and told them Pearl was en route to the Village Restaurant, where he expected to meet an Islamic activist who was supposedly trying to arrange an interview with a prominent cleric.
Pearl was put in one car, which was followed by another vehicle containing three other kidnappers.
The two vehicles followed Bukhari, who led the convoy on a motorcycle to the shack where Pearl was to be held.
According to the two investigators, Pearl tried to escape as he was being led to the toilet during his sixth day in captivity. However, he was tackled by Karim and Chishti, who beat him and shot him in the leg.
The struggle made so much noise that students at a nearby Islamic school ran out onto the roof to see what was happening, police said.
A day after the escape attempt, police said, Bukhari told his fellow kidnappers that they must kill Pearl, although the officers said it was unclear who gave the order for his murder.