PAKISTAN: US media yesterday reported first that the body of US journalist Daniel Pearl had been found dumped on a roadside, then said it was not his body after all. Reports were all based on information from Pakistani police in Karachi.
Police had originally said that Mr Pearl's body had been found in the southern city of Karachi. The dead man had been shot through the mouth, according to reports.
The 38-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent disappeared January 23rd in Karachi after telling his wife he was going to meet the leader of a little-known militant Islamic organisation.
A hitherto unknown group calling itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, which sent a series of e-mails earlier in the week with photos of Pearl in captivity, had threatened to kill him by Thursday, then extended the deadline to Friday.
Meanwhile, Mr Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's interim leader, has said his country must rid itself of warlords. He was speaking as fresh fighting erupted in the north.
As fighting undermined Mr Karzai's efforts to contain the growing unrest, foreign military commanders in Kabul said a force of more than 30,000 would be needed to secure the country.
The latest battle, in northern Mazar-e-Sharif, pitched forces loyal to Uzbek warlord Mr Abdul Rashid Dostam, the interim government's deputy defence minister, against those of rival Tajik commander Mr Atta Mohammad, the area military commander.
The Mazar-i-Sharif fighting, coming just days after a heavy battle in eastern Gardez, and other tense standoffs between warlords in the north, underscored the brittle hold the interim government has. While Mr Karzai has asked world leaders for more troops to secure the country, few countries seem willing to offer the troop-strength required.
The worst fighting erupted in the Paktia capital Gardez, where his handpicked governor, Mr Padsha Khan, tried to use force to take up his post from rival Pashtun tribal leader Mr Saif Ullah. Some 50 people were killed in the two-day battle, which saw Mr Khan's troops retreat from the town late on Thursday.
A government source said the defeat of Padsha Khan in Gardez was "humiliating" for Mr Karzai. "It shows that his power barely extends beyond Kabul," the source added.
Meanwhile, the US National Security Adviser, Ms Condoleezza Rice, yesterday demanded the immediate release of Mr Pearl.
"Daniel Pearl needs to be released right away," Ms Rice said. "We just hope that this can come to a resolution very quickly."
The group which kidnapped Mr Pearl has demanded the release of Pakistani detainees held at a US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and better treatment for all detainees war held there.
The singer Cat Stevens, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam upon his conversion to Islam in 1977, said in a statement aimed at the kidnappers: "If justice is your goal, then the cause of justice will not be served by killing an innocent man who has nothing but a pen in his hand."
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office in London yesterday confirmed that a black Muslim convert was the fifth Briton being held by the US on suspicion of fighting with Taliban and al-Qaeda troops in Afghanistan.