Punjab police find Pearl suspect

The men who killed Daniel Pearl are still thought to be at large

Pakistani police say they have arrested a suspected militant wanted in connection with the abduction and murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl.

Malik Tasaddaq, 28, was detained in the eastern Punjab province on suspicion of involvement in the killing, local police chief Saadatullah Khan said.

Mr Tasaddaq is accused of belonging to the outlawed Islamic Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group blamed for many attacks.

A reward of one million rupees ($17,000) was offered for his arrest.

Another wanted man, Nadir Khan, was detained in a separate raid in Punjab, police said.

He is also said to be involved with the Sunni Muslim Lashkar-e-Jhangvi organisation which is believed to have carried out attacks on Shias, Westerners and government targets, the police said.

Four Islamic militants have been convicted of kidnapping Mr Pearl, but seven other suspects - including those who allegedly slit his throat in front of a video camera - remain at large.

Mr Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was kidnapped in January 2002 in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi while working on a story on Islamic militancy, and was later killed in captivity.

A Pakistani court convicted British-born militant Omar Saeed Sheikh for the killing, along with two accomplices.

But the Wall Street Journal later reported US officials as saying al-Qaeda kingpin, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, had a hand in Mr Pearl's death - a charge denied by Pakistani police.