March 19, 2013

(JTA) — Pakistani security officials captured a former terrorist leader who is believed to have planned the 2002 kidnapping and murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl.

Qari Abdul Saeed, also known as Asadullah, was arrested Sunday by the Pakistani Sindh Rangers, according to reports Monday citing unnamed Pakistani officials. He is accused of two decades of terror activity.

Pearl’s parents, Judea and Ruth, said in a statement released Monday, “We are gratified with this latest arrest and hope that justice will be served in a timely manner on all of those who were involved in the abduction and murder of our son, Danny.”

Pearl, The Wall Street Journal south Asia bureau chief, was researching a story about Islamist militants when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002 and murdered a month later.

His final words as he was about to be beheaded — an act that was captured on camera and widely distributed following his death — were “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”

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