Police charge three men in kidnapping of reporter

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Police charged three men in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, officials said Friday, and Pakistan's president said he hoped the journalist would be freed soon.

The three suspects, one of whom is a member of the police special branch, were arrested last weekend after e-mails claiming responsibility for Pearl's kidnapping were traced to them, police Inspector Kamal Shah said.

Shah said they will appear in court Monday. Under Pakistani law, the judge can either set a trial date, hold them for further investigation or free them.

Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, issued a statement Friday saying it remained "very confident" that he is alive and would be released soon.

The 38-year-old reporter was abducted Jan. 23 en route to a meeting with Muslim extremist contacts.

The three men charged were identified as Farhad Naseem, Sheikh Mohammed Adeel, a constable with the police department's special branch, and Salman Saqib.

Police said two e-mails containing pictures of Pearl that were sent to U.S. and Pakistani news organizations were traced to Naseem's laptop. A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saqib and Adeel both admitted traveling to Afghanistan, where they met the chief suspect, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, who remains at large.