Kidnapped Reporter Killed on Tape
Feb. 22 -- As U.S. and Pakistani officials vowed to bring Daniel Pearl's killers to justice, the wife of the kidnapped U.S. journalist said today that his captors did not defeat her husband or his mission to seek the truth.
Mariane Pearl, seven months pregnant with the couple's first child, said her hope "is that I will be able to tell our son that his father carried the flag to end terrorism, raising an unprecedented demand among people from all countries not for revenge but for the values we all share: love, compassion, friendship and citizenship far transcending the so-called clash of civilizations."
Mrs. Pearl, who remained in Pakistan throughout his abduction, was told of her husband's death early Thursday. Since her husband was kidnapped nearly one month ago, Mrs. Pearl, a freelance journalist, had pleaded for his life and offered to take his place.
On Thursday, Pakistani and U.S. officials confirmed the death of Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, after watching a gruesome videotape that shows him being killed with a knife.
Details emerged today about the videotape, which was edited and undated and contains images only of Pearl, not his captors. Pearl is seen against a black background and at times there are what appear to be projected images of women and children from Afghanistan, Palestine, and Kashmir.
"My name is Daniel Pearl. I'm Jewish American," Pearl said on the tape, which law enforcement officials described to ABCNEWS. Pearl was apparently made to repeat some of the kidnappers' demands and to criticize U.S. government policies, including "the continued military presence in Afghanistan" and "unconditional support given to the state of Israel."
The tape also shows Pearl saying things about his own background, including "My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish."
Pearl is then executed, and as he is killed the group's name and demands scrawls across the screen. A message from the kidnappers reads: "We assume Americans they shall never be safe on the Muslim land of Pakistan and if our demands are not met this scene shall be repeated again and again."
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