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See the extensive bibliography (divided into print, video/audio, and online resources) below the essay.

[1] Daniel Pearl was a Jewish-American journalist who worked for the Wall Street Journal. Born October 10, 1963, in Princeton, he grew up in Los Angeles and attended Stanford University. While attending Stanford, Danny, as referred to by his close friends and family, was responsible for co-founding the student newspaper, the Stanford Commentary. Pearl’s passion and skill for writing and journalism led him to graduate with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Stanford in 1985.

[2] The professional career of Daniel Pearl began post-graduation, after interning for a summer as a Pulliam Fellow for the Indianapolis Star. Following his stint as an intern, Pearl then went on to write for the North Adams Transcript and the Berkshire Eagle. Finally, before finding a permanent home with the Wall Street Journal, Pearl worked for the San Francisco Business Times. In 1990, after accepting employment with the Journal, Danny moved to Atlanta. Starting in Atlanta, he would move successively north to Washington and across the Atlantic Ocean to try his luck at the London bureau. While abroad, he served as a Middle East correspondent. During this time he would meet his eventual wife, Mariane van Neyenhoff, a French freelance journalist. The two later moved to Paris and married in August 1999. In his final move, both Danny and Mariane left for Bombay where he was to pursue a position as the South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

[3] Based in Bombay, Pearl worked to uncover endless hoards of information. Of the famous stories he broke, one included the truth about the US’s mistaken bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant thought to be a weapons factory. Following that incident Pearl also broke a story uncovering al Qaeda’s money laundering scheme within the Tanzanite gem market. Then, climactically, Pearl’s assignment as the BC for South Asia was to cover the “War on Terror,” and in 2002, while working on that assignment, he was kidnapped and brutally murdered. Journalists investigating militant groups and their connections to terrorist activities were not welcome, according to Pearl's widow, Mariane, who traveled with him to Karachi and who wrote about her experience in her 2003 book, A Mighty Heart. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Pearl’s death marked that of the tenth journalist murdered while attempting to cover stories relating to the war on terrorism.

[4] Pakistani and U.S. investigators and others connected with the Pearl case have been able to piece together this account of Pearl's entrapment, confinement, and murder. On January 6, 2002, Pearl, working in Islamabad, Pakistan, read a story in the Boston Globe about Richard Reid, a Briton accused of trying to blow up an American Airlines jet over the Atlantic with a bomb in his shoe. The story said Mr. Reid had studied under a Pakistani Islamic leader named Sheik Mubarik Ali Gilani, the reclusive head of a largely U.S.-based group called al Fuqra.

[5] Pearl began seeking an interview with Mr. Gilani to discuss Reid. A man with whom Pearl had been in contact, calling himself Arif, phoned to say he knew such a person. According to Pearl's assistant in Islamabad, the caller said a meeting with a person who knew Gilani could take place the evening of January 11 at the Akbar International hotel in Rawalpindi, a city about twenty-five miles west of Islamabad. Authorities would later discover that Arif was in fact Hashim Kadir, an operative of the Karkut ul-Mujahedin. This Kashmiri group’s long record of criminal activities included that of kidnapping Westerners. After arriving at the hotel, Pearl met with a man by the name of Bashir. Bashir, discovered later as Omar Saeed Sheikh, was a British-born Pakistani who once attended the London School of Economics. Investigators surmised that Omar Saeed was very proficient at using a Punjabi and British accent that helped him lure his kidnap victims. In 1994, Saeed was convicted and put in prison for kidnapping four Westerners in India but was later released in 1999 in a hostage-prisoner swap. The swap included giving up passengers aboard hijacked flight 814 of Indian Airlines in exchange for Saeed.

[6] There were two separate operations, which, when coupled together, would enable Pearl’s abduction to succeed. Saeed organized the first cell and the preliminary trap. He asked an acquaintance whom police call "Haider," a longtime militant who formerly trained radical fighters in Afghanistan camps, to handle the second cell and the actual kidnapping. Apart from Mr. Saeed and Haider, authorities say it's possible no other member of the first operation knew any member of the second.

[7] On January 22, Pearl flew to Karachi with his wife to conduct two days of interviews on a variety of topics. He had planned to leave the country January 24. According to phone-company records, on the afternoon of January 23 Pearl received two phone calls from a Mr. Siddique, the man "Bashir" had said would arrange for Pearl to see Gilani. The phone calls had confirmed the time and rendezvous points for the meeting. According to the taxi driver who took him there, Pearl arrived outside the Village Restaurant in downtown Karachi at about 7 p.m. At 7:45, a local journalist who had been working with Pearl during his two days of interviews in Karachi called to check on a meeting scheduled for later in the evening, but Pearl's mobile phone had been switched off. Pearl was later driven forty minutes to the northern outskirts of the city.

[8] Four days later, local and foreign news organizations received e-mails with photos showing a captive Pearl wearing a track suit. The e-mails included a range of demands, including better treatment for terrorism suspects held by the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. In an Urdu-language attachment to the English-language e-mail, an additional demand was made. It called for the U.S. to turn over F-16 fighter jets purchased by Pakistan in the late 1980s but never delivered because of U.S. sanctions related to Islamabad's nuclear-weapons program. The issue was legally settled during the Clinton administration but remains an emotional one for some in Pakistan.

[9] Naeem Bukhari, a leader of a militant chapter group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was one of the men responsible for holding Pearl captive. At one point, Pearl supposedly went to use the bathroom and attempted to escape through a ventilator opening. Bukhari caught Pearl and chained him to a car engine on the compound. He subsequently tried to pull away from his captors during a walk within the compound. He shouted for help at least twice, once when someone came to the compound door and once after he'd been caught trying to get through the ventilator.

[10] Police say that on approximately February 1, 2002, a man named Saud Memon drove into the compound with three Arabic-speaking men who appeared to the kidnappers to be Yemeni. Mr. Memon, a garment manufacturer, owned the compound, the police say, and was a financier for militant groups, in association with a foundation called the Al-Rashid Trust. The Al-Rashid trust is one of several Islamic charities the U.S. has publicly identified as supporting militant activity. It later changed its name to al Akhtar Trust.

[11] According to a person familiar with the case, Bukhari directed all the guards but one to go outside and leave the Arabic-speaking men alone with Pearl. The guard who stayed, this person says, was an employee of Memon's named Fazal Karim. Karim, who knew a little English, later told police that at least one of the visitors communicated with Pearl in a language the guard didn't understand. Pearl, who could speak French and Hebrew, responded with an angry outburst, his first conversation of any length since his capture.

[12] After the interaction calmed, one of the visitors turned on a video camera, and another asked Pearl questions about his religious background. At least one major Pakistani newspaper had by this time reported that Mr. Pearl was Jewish. After the videotaped statement by Pearl, in which he described where he was raised in the U.S., his family's Jewish heritage, and his sympathy for individuals captured by the U.S. in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay, Pearl was blindfolded and beheaded. Confusion exists, though, as to who has actually performed the beheading itself.

[13] British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh turned himself in to police on February 12, 2002. Saeed, who was originally sentenced to death for Pearl’s murder, motioned for an appeal. His attorneys cited Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession in defense of their client, on March 19, 2007. Mohammed was captured on March 1, 2003, in a joint raid by India’s Inter-Services Intelligence and CIA’s Special Activities Division. The raid took place at the home of Ahmed Abdul Qudoos, who was also reportedly arrested as an al-Qaeda agent. On December 8, 2008, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told the judge he wished to plead guilty to all charges. According to a CNN interview with intelligence expert Rohan Gunaratna, “Daniel Pearl was going in search of the al Qaeda network that was operational in Karachi, and it was at the instruction of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that Daniel Pearl was killed." On October 12, 2006, Time magazine reported that "KSM confessed under CIA interrogation that he personally committed the murder." On March 15, 2007, the Pentagon released a statement that Mohammed had confessed to the murder. The statement quoted Mohammed as saying, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head.” The three others convicted in the kidnapping--Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib, and Sheikh Mohammed Adeel--received 25-year jail sentences.

[14] Reactions of Daniel Pearl’s death all speak of similar sentiments. A statement from his family said, “Danny was a beloved son, brother, uncle and husband, and father to a child who will never know him. A musician, a writer, a storyteller and a bridge-builder. Danny was the walking sunshine of truth, humor, friendship and compassion.” Close friends and colleagues also put forth statements of grief saying, “His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny's kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots.” The global community’s reaction also echoed the same grievances and compassion. Reactions stemmed from those of the Christian faith, to Judaism, and even included Muslim’s as well. Pearl’s death was truly a blow to be absorbed by many.

Print Resources

"Appeals for the 'Mercy of Islam'." Wall Street Journal 04 Feb 2002: A16.

A collection of public statements given from various notable members from within the global community that called for the release of reporter Daniel Pearl. Statements were made by former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali; Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the musician Cat Stevens; and, finally, Daniel Pearl’s wife, Mariane.

Enders, Walter, and Todd Sandler. The Political Economy of Terrorism. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006.

This book seeks to set itself apart from other terrorism texts. Its distinctive claim follows that it not only covers historical, cultural, factual, and conceptual details, but it as well includes scientific-based analyses backed by statistical inferences. Enders and Sandler have tracked the behaviors of both terrorists and policy-makers in effort to see how both parties react to one another’s actions. By utilizing such methods as the “Game Theory” Enders and Sandler hope to gain a better insight and understand the decisions that governments make when formulating counterterrorism policy. As for the future, these authors have surmised that the internet will be the tool that links smaller networks of terrorists together in order to coordinate attacks. Future targets are thought to include economic assets like stock animals, as well as critical infrastructure, namely, ports, communication networks, energy grids, and transportation links.

Ensalaco, Mark. Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2008.

Ensalaco has taught political violence for the University of Dayton and for the Air Force intelligence officers at Wright Patterson Air Force base. On the morning of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Ensalaco had been summoned by an ABC affiliate to offer insight relating to the current political situation regarding the Middle East and its terrorist motives. The purpose of his book is to narrate the evolution of terrorism that originated within the conflictive politics and geopolitics of the Arab and Muslim worlds. His analysis, which includes chapters regarding the attacks on U.S on September 11, 2001, describes how the face of terror had changed. Osama bin Laden’s “fatwa” stated that any Muslim was to kill as many Americans as possible if the opportunity presented itself. In the book’s final chapter, Ensalaco provides painstaking detail about the 9/11 attacks. His summaries include information pertaining to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his role in masterminding the attack. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed later that year was in Pakistan and ultimately admitted to beheading Daniel Pearl with his own hands.

"Fallen Journalist: Daniel Pearl Is Dead, Abducted in Pakistan And Killed by Captors --- Investigators Have Videotape Confirming the Murder Of Journal Correspondent --- A Career of Sparkling Stories ." Wall Street Journal 22 Feb 2002: A1.

This article was the first to break the news of Daniel Pearl’s death. Journal Managing Editor Paul E. Steiger said in a statement, “Danny was an outstanding colleague, a greater reporter, and a dear friend of many at the journal. His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny’s kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots.” The article retells Pearl’s reasons for being in Pakistan, particularly Karachi, in order to seek out an interview to uncover information regarding Richard C. Reid, the shoe bomber. The group who had been holding the 38-year-old journalist had made several demands in exchange for sparing his life. Those demands included the release of Pakistani nationals being held by the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and also called for the United States to hand over F-16 fighter jets purchased by Pakistan in the later 1980s that were never sent because of sanctions related to Islamabad’s nuclear-weapons program.

The article continues on and explains who Daniel Pearl was as a friend and husband. Pearl loved music, from classical to blues and even country. He was noted to have liked to cook and experiment with the bread maker he received from a friend as a gift. Finally, the article mentions how he and Mariane met -- in 1998 at a party in Paris, where he immediately announced that he had fallen in love. In August of 1999 the two married.

Some of the notable stories that Pearl covered during his time at the Journal included the issue of the U.S. bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant in August of 1997. The plant was thought to have been aiding in making weapons and the only small traces anyone ever found of such happenings was a scoop-ful of dirt taken from the vicinity of the factory. The sample yielded that it contained a chemical used to make nerve gas, but as Pearl said in his report, “other evidence becomes murkier the closer you look.” Pearl also wrote about the issue of attempting to produce relatively inexpensive, generic AIDS drugs available in the Third World. As well, he chronicled how Osama bin Laden had financed his terrorist activities by controlling a portion of the tanzanite gemstone trade.

Griffiths, John C. Hostage: The History, Facts & Reasoning Behind Hostage Taking. London: Andre Deutsch, 2003.

Griffiths examines the study of political hostage taking. He observes the relationship among the three principal actors: captors, captives, and coerced. The first two speak for themselves, while the term “coerced” refers to the authorities whose actions, policies, or opinions are threatened. Griffiths’ analysis focuses in on those hostage situations that have been politically motivated and whose object was the extortion of money to further their own political causes. The final chapter of Griffiths’ novel, Tomorrow’s Hostages, discussed the apparent shift in hostage motives. Griffiths notes that today countries from dictatorships to democracies have noticed that terrorism in most cases has shifted from the political nature to that of the religious. According to Griffiths, because this title of “the war on terrorism” exists, more credence is given to both sides like the “bigoted evangelism of right-wing America and the bigoted militancy of Islam” to continue efforts to eradicate the opposition.

Lévy, Bernard-Henri. Who Killed Daniel Pearl? Hoboken: Melville House Publishing, 2003.

Levy has essentially taken it upon himself to retrace the steps of Daniel Pearl as best he can. Over the course of one year, Levy traveled from Karachi to Kandahar, New Delhi, Washington, London, and back to Karachi. In his foreword Levy cleverly states that what he is doing is “an investigation of the investigation.” The book begins with the life of Daniel Pearl, calling him “a citizen of the planet, a man curious about other men, at home in the world.” The first section is entitled “Danny,” followed by “Omar,” “Crime of State,” “Al Qaida,” and lastly “Over Intrusive.” In each of these sections, Levy is seeking to ask questions in order to learn what Pearl’s captives’ motives were, what could have inspired them to do what they did, and what they sought to gain. What has set Levy apart from others who have tried to look into what happened to Pearl is the fact that his passion carried him to literally make an effort to emulate him in every aspect: walk like him, observe like him, think like him, feel what he felt, and ultimately reconstruct his murder.

Levine , Steve, and Zahid Hussain. "Men Tried in Pearl Killing Are Found Guilty --- Leader Saeed Is Sentenced To Death; Three Other Men To Serve 25 Years Each ." Wall Street Journal 15 July 2002: A10.

Investigators uncover that Omar Saeed used two separate cells in order to successfully carry out his plot to abduct and kill Pearl. One cell, said to have been strictly assembled and led by Saeed, was responsible for setting the trap on Pearl, while the other was formed and laden with the task of carrying out the actual abduction and murder. No single person aside from Saeed and the leader of the second cell was aware of the other’s involvement in the task. Saeed has been described as very clever and smooth, having been formerly educated at the London School of Economics. Saeed had specialized in the kidnapping of Westerners and was directly responsible for earlier abductions which included three Britons and one American in 1994. Judge Ali Ashraf Shah sentenced Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to death, while his three accomplices -- Fahad Naseem, his cousin Salman Saqib, and Sheikh Muhammad Adeel, a Pakistani police constable, were each sentenced to twenty five years in prison. The defense said it planned to appeal the verdict at the time of this publication.

Levine, Steve. "A Murder's Aftermath: Killing of Pearl Fit Into Pakistani Web Of Radical Islam --- Probe of Reporter's Slaying Has Netted Many Suspects In Nation's Wave of Terror --- One Year Later, New Details ." Wall Street Journal 23 Jan 2003: A1.

Levine retells Pearl’s story and the origins of why he was in Karachi to seek out interviews on various topics. After arriving on January 22, Daniel Pearl planned to leave the country for Dubai with his wife on the 24th of that same month. On Feb. 5, after Pearl’s murder, Pakistani authorities were able to arrest most of the men within the first of the two cells involved in Pearl’s abduction and execution. The FBI and India’s ISI through the use of telephone taps and email transmissions were able to arrest Omar Saeed. Interrogations with Saeed rendered that attacks by smaller militant groups would follow. As was predicted, on March 17 an attacker threw grenades into a Protestant church in Islamabad that killed five people (two Americans). Following that a car was driven in front of the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, where it exploded killing eleven French military engineers who were assisting the Pakistani Navy. Five weeks later a car bomb made from fertilizer exploded in the entrance to the US Consulate in Karachi -- twelve Pakistanis were killed. Following these attacks Levine cites that more than 300 suspects were arrested and interrogated. During that sweep the men said to have guarded Pearl while in captivity have all been detained. Levine continues to add that the key figures at large include “Haider” (former militant trainer), allegedly responsible for setting up the kidnap; Abdul Samat, the man thought to have managed the men who guarded Pearl as well as the organizer of the bombing on the Sheraton; Mr. Memon, the owner of the compound on which Pearl was murder and found; and, finally, the three Arabic speakers brought in from the outside during Pearl’s execution, who are assumed to be Yeminis. With all this information, the main question still remains as to who actually ordered the execution of Pearl.

Nomani, Asra Q. "A Mighty Shame." Washington Post 24 June 2007: B01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201673.html

Nomani takes a very personal stance, which is to be expected. Having worked with Danny on the Journal for so long, she became a close friend, and the two shared a two-way confidant-type relationship. She remarks, “The character I saw on film was flat â€" nerdy, bland and boring.” Because Nomani lived through this event (and is, in fact, a character in the film), she claims that the creative license that Hollywood took “reprogrammed” her memory. In Nomani’s mind, Hollywood has taken something very personal and twisted it into something unlike what she knew to be true. In an effort to expose the real truths about Danny’s story, Nomani has established the Pearl Project (a joint faculty-student investigative reporting project at Georgetown University), which will aim to find out who killed Daniel Pearl and why.

"Pakistani Group Says It Seized Daniel Pearl, Journal Correspondent --- It Wants Pakistanis in Cuba And Afghan Envoy Returned; Paper Asks Reporter's Release." Wall Street Journal 28 Jan 2002: A1.

A group referring to themselves as “The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty” said it had seized Pearl. Pearl had been missing since January 23. The group revealed pictures of the journalist, one of which included Pearl with a gun held to his head while bound by his hands. The group claimed to have captured Pearl because he was a CIA officer only posing as a journalist. Both the Journal and United States government confirmed these claims were incorrect. In the email sent to authorities, the captors said, “If the Americans want the release of Mr. Pearl, all Pakistanis being illegally detained by the FBI inside America merely on suspicion must be given access to lawyers and allowed to see their family members.” In an Urdu-language attachment, authorities were able to also translate that the captors wanted a cache of F-16 fighter jets that were supposed to be delivered to Pakistan during the 1980s. The jets were never handed over because of sanctions related to Islamabad’s nuclear-weapons initiatives. The Clinton administration had legally settled the issue, but it apparently had remained an emotional one for some Pakistanis.

Pearl, Judea and Ruth. I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004.

This book is a compilation of thoughts gathered by Daniel Pearl’s parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl. By thinking about and remembering Daniel Pearl’s last words, “I am Jewish,” people were inspired to give their own interpretations of what that meant on a personal level. Contributors included scholars, artists, entertainers, government officials, authors, media personalities, scientists, community leaders, rabbis, and various others involved in both the religious, professional, and political spectrum. The range of life stories, personal feelings and theology, and historical reflections were given by people of all ages. The categories that characterize these sections are: Identity, Heritage, Covenant, Choseness, Faith, Humanity, Ethnicity, and, finally Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World and Justice).

Pearl, Judea. "Daniel Pearl and the Normalization of Evil." Wall Street Journal 3 February 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123362422088941893.html

"Those around the world who mourned for Danny in 2002 genuinely hoped that Danny's murder would be a turning point in the history of man's inhumanity to man, and that the targeting of innocents to transmit political messages would quickly become, like slavery and human sacrifice, an embarrassing relic of a bygone era. But somehow, barbarism, often cloaked in the language of "resistance," has gained acceptance in the most elite circles of our society."

Pearl, Mariane, and Sarah Crichton. A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl. New York: Scribner, 2003.

In this book, on which the film was based, the kidnapping and brutal murder of Danny Pearl is retold from his wife’s perspective. Mariane Pearl, a journalist and award-winning documentary film director, alongside Sarah Crichton, former Newsweek editor and current publisher at Little, Brown, and Company, have put together a detailed account of what Mariane and all those closely involved in Danny’s search experienced during the episode. Mariane and Danny had been working in South Asia together as journalists on a mission to produce good and honest reporting as a means of gaining a better understanding of ethnic and religious conflicts around the world. Danny, who at the time had been working for the Wall Street Journal, was in Karachi, Pakistan, and sought an interview that ultimately led to him being kidnapped. On the night of his abduction he had been scheduled to meet and interview with someone who was supposed to put Danny in contact with another man, by the name of Sheikh Gilani. Through this meeting, Danny hoped to uncover information pertaining to Richard Reid, the infamous Shoe-bomber. As we now know, Danny was kidnapped and held in inhumane circumstances for five weeks before being beheaded. In this account, the reader is both informed of Danny’s search but also enlightened about what made Danny such a special person, both as a colleague, friend, husband, and father-to-be.

Sageman, Marc. Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2008.

Sageman takes a similarly scientific approach to writing this book much like Griffiths’ Hostage. Sageman studies the evolution of terrorism, and what he argues, though, is that the Jihadi, what westerners would call a terrorist, has taken on a more fluid or homegrown form. In the past, for example with the September 11 attacks, such attacks had been carried out with great detail and directions from higher ups within the Al Qaeda network. Now, Sageman puts forth the argument that increasing numbers of self-financed, self-trained, and homegrown terrorists are establishing themselves with the hopes of emulating their forefathers. This type of “leaderless jihad” is still able to yield destructive attacks, and it has become increasingly harder for Western governments to seek them out and stop them before they occur. Sageman’s research provides detailed information about Omar Saeed Sheikh â€" the man convicted of kidnapping Daniel Pearl â€" as well as general information about the globalization of Jihadi terror, the Jihadi profile, terrorism and the age of the internet, and suggested policies on how to combat these issues.

Simpson, Glenn R. and Greg Jaffe. "U.S Treasury Freezes Assets of Charity Linked to al Qaeda ." Wall Street Journal 15 Oct 2003: A6.

Al Akhtar Trust International, based in Karachi, Pakistan, had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Dept. The order came after information was uncovered that supported the fact that the charity was funding terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al Qaeda detainees released information that strengthened the evidence of an al Qaeda link to those who murdered Pearl. At the time of the article’s publication, Mr. Memon, the owner of the property where Pearl was killed, was being sought after across Pakistan.

"Wall Street Journal Staffer Goes Missing in Pakistan." Wall Street Journal 25 Jan 2002: A10.

This is the first article and newsbreak regarding Pearl being missing. Steven Goldstein, a spokesman for Dow Jones & Co., the newspaper’s parent, said, “the reporter didn’t check in with his editors as expected Wednesday night, and as of late yesterday hadn’t been heard from.” Normal protocol for WSJ journalists working in dangerous areas is that they are expected to check in with editors at specific times. When Pearl missed his last appointment and failed to check in, suspicions were raised as to his whereabouts.

See Also

Mahan, Sue, and Pamala L. Griset. "Kidnapping and Hostage Taking." Terrorism in Perspective. New York: Sage, 2007.

Pearl, Daniel. At Home in the World: Collected Writings from the Wall Street Journal. New York: Free Press, 2002.

Video/Audio Resources

Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl. New York: HBO Home Video, 2007.

"Examines the life of journalist Daniel Pearl and compares it to that of his killer."

Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty. Burbank: Starz Media, 2003 [2008].

"Around the world, journalists are increasingly being killed. They die in the crossfire. They die at the hand of criminals and corupt governments. They die in tragic accidents. In the case of targeted deaths, these acts are meant to bury both the storytellers and the stories they're driven to write. This film takes us inside the stories of 7 journalists who gave their lives, beginning February 2002, with Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl."

Online Resources

The Daniel Pearl Foundation http://www.danielpearl.org/

"The Daniel Pearl Foundation was formed in memory of journalist Daniel Pearl to further the ideals that inspired Daniel's life and work. The foundation's mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and innovative communications."

The Daniel Pearl Murder -- Part 1: The Understanding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o5GEzejXjU

The Daniel Pearl Murder -- Part 2: The Meeting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyv0f71vGSQ&feature=channel

The Daniel Pearl Murder -- Part 3: The Capture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3UO8fSVNKU&feature=channel

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/icij/

"A collaboration of the world's preeminent investigative reporters. Launched in 1997 as a project of the Center for Public Integrity, ICIJ globally extends the Center's style of watchdog journalism, working with 100 journalists in 50 countries to produce long-term, transnational investigations."

International Terrorism: American Hostages -- Fact Sheet. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2001/4337.htm

"The U.S. Government will make no concessions to terrorists holding official or private U.S. citizens hostage. It will not pay ransom, release prisoners, change its policies, or agree to other acts that might encourage additional terrorism. At the same time, the United States will use every appropriate resource to gain the safe return of American citizens who are held hostage by terrorists."

Mariane Pearl Interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynp4-kRDcZk

Interview on Liz Walker's "Sunday" show in 2007 or 2008. One of her interesting comments has to do with the futility of revenge.

"A Mighty" Angelina Jolie (CBS News) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtFtkOyV2-U&feature=fvw

The Pearl Project http://scs.georgetown.edu/pearlproject/

"An innovative investigative journalism project at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies exploring the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002."

Terrorism: Selected Internet Resources http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/hispanic/terrorism/terrorism.html

A Library of Congress resource.