New York, February 12, 2002—CPJ is hopeful that apparent progress made by Pakistani authorities in their investigation of the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl will soon lead to the journalist’s safe release. Police said today that they have arrested Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, whom they have identified as the chief suspect in…
New York, February 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about reported threats to journalists from the Abu Sayyaf, an armed group active in the southern Philippines that American and Filipino officials have linked to the al-Qaeda network. More than 600 American troops arrived recently on the southern island of Basilan to help…
New York, February 8, 2002 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s decision by a Colombo High Court judge to sentence two Air Forces officers to nine years in prison for their role in a nighttime raid on the home of Iqbal Athas, the award-winning defense correspondent for The Sunday Times. The raid,…
New York, February 7, 2002—On February 5, explosions from several homemade bombs rocked the area surrounding the Chittagong Press Club, where journalist Shahriar Kabir was attending a reception to celebrate his release on bail. One bystander was killed in the attack, and several others were injured. Kabir was not harmed. Kabir, a documentary filmmaker, regular…
[Statement from the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists – issued February 2, 2002] From the Pakistani newspaper DAWN — 2.4.02 PFUJ’s concern over kidnap of newsman By Our Reporter LAHORE, Feb 3: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has expressed grave concern over the disappearance and fate of American journalist Daniel Pearl of The…
February 1, 2002 I, being the president of Hazara Union of Journalists and Secretary General, Press Club, Abbottabad, Pakistan appeal to the abductors/captors of Daniel Pearl to release the WSJ reporter unconditionally and immediately. Islam does not permit or cordone such acts. Rather it teaches us to show hospitality to even one’s enemies let alone…
New York, January 31, 2002—In a letter sent today to U.S. defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, CPJ requested information about the circumstances behind the U.S. bombing of the Kabul office of the Al-Jazeera satellite television channel in mid-November. During the early morning hours of November 13, 2001, U.S. aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on the…
We, the undersigned, are colleagues of Daniel Pearl, who has become a captive while reporting for The Wall Street Journal in Pakistan. Like Daniel himself, we are journalists. As he used to, we report on events in the Middle East. We are Americans, Arabs, and others, who have spent many years, in some cases lifetimes,…