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Pak. denies report on Pearl release
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
ISLAMABAD, FEB. 9. Embarrassed over media reports on ``rescue'' of the abducted American journalist, Daniel Pearl, there was a spate of denials by Pakistan today on the ``authenticity'' of the news. It maintained that Pearl was in the custody of unidentified kidnappers. Speculations about an imminent breakthrough in the case have been appearing in the Pakistani media for several days now. However, what probably lent credibility to the report in the English daily, Dawn, (which said the Wall Street Journal reporter was leaving for London today) were the comments by the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, on Friday, that the authorities were close to solving the case and his confidence that Pearl would be released soon.
In a front page report, the paper said it had acquired documentary evidence to show that Pearl was booked on a PIA flight, PK-757, for London, scheduled to leave Islamabad at 9:10 a.m. (local time) and gave a ticket number. The booking, it said, had been made on February 4, and that the officials refused to say when Pearl was rescued from Karachi and taken to Islamabad. It also quoted a police official in Karachi as saying ``he could be some other Daniel.''
A Government spokesman promptly denied that Pearl had been freed and was being sent to Britain.
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