Alerts

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[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 Wall Street Journal and urged the government to trace him and step up its efforts to arrest his kidnappers as early as possible.

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 one's guest. Mr. Pearl was a guest in Pakistan and his captors must treat him as such and release him without any delay.

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 building housing the station, according to a U.S. Central Command spokesperson. No Al-Jazeera staff remained in the building at the time of the bombing, which destroyed the facilities.

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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, in the Arab part of the Islamic world.

We would like to state without hesitation that Daniel is a professional journalist of the highest standard. During his own assignment covering the Arab part of the Muslim world, he worked with honesty, courage, and independence of mind to write the truth about the conflicts and problems of the region as he saw it. Like the rest of us, he did his best to convey the opinions and emotions of the people of the region.

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 building housing the station, according to a U.S. Central Command spokesperson. No Al-Jazeera staff remained in the building at the time of the bombing, which destroyed the facilities.

Pakistan: CPJ urges kidnappers to release Daniel Pearl (January 28, 2002)

 

New York, January 30, 2002—In response to his captors' demands and threats against Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's life, CPJ called again for the reporter's release in a statement today.

"We appeal to the captors of Danny Pearl to release him immediately, so that he can rejoin his wife, who is pregnant with their first child, and resume his work of reporting the news," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

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 building housing the station, according to a U.S. Central Command spokesperson. No Al-Jazeera staff remained in the building at the time of the bombing, which destroyed the facilities.

New York, January 28, 2002—CPJ is deeply concerned about Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who has been missing in Pakistan since January 23. A previously unknown group stated in an e-mail to news organizations that they had abducted Pearl and accused him of working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

"Daniel Pearl is a distinguished journalist, much admired by his colleagues in the press," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "Targeting reporters who are working independently to report the news will never advance anyone's political agenda. CPJ calls on Daniel Pearl's kidnappers to release him immediately."

January 19, 2002, New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns in the strongest terms Israel's destruction today of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation building in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Early this morning, Israeli forces entered the five-story building, which houses administrative offices and broadcasting facilities for the Palestinian National Authority's Voice of Palestine (VOP) radio station as well as studios for the official Palestine Television. The forces confiscated equipment and later detonated explosives, setting the building on fire and causing half of it to collapse, according to international press reports.

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“ Such a policy is a disservice to VOA's millions of listeners around the world,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

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