Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was born in London and educated at an English public school, is believed to be behind recent emails. According to reports, he is a member of an Islamic terror group, which also has links to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
The naming of Sheikh follows the arrest by Pakistani police of six people, three of whom are related to Sheikh. The six are all connected to a banned Islamic militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which translates as Army of Mohammad, which the police are now centring their search on.
The group has also been linked to a number of cross-border attacks in India. The group has been proscribed by the United States and is one of two groups being blamed by India for the attack on its parliament in December.
Sheikh, the son of wealthy Pakistani parents, was released by India in 1999 as part of a deal to end a hijacking, having been jailed in 1994 for his part in trying to take British and American hostages.
It was previously thought Pearl had been taken by a group not previously heard of, calling itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty. It had demanded the release of Pakistani prisoners, captured by US military in Afghanistan, and of Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who is also being held by the US.
Police in Pakistani arrested two men in Karachi last night who are thought to have been behind the emails sent last week claiming that Pearl, missing now for 14 days, was dead.
Earlier this week, police had to release who they thought was a key suspect when the man, thought to be Mohammad Hashim Qadir, turned out to be someone else.
Before being kidnapped, Pearl had been in Pakistan working on a story about the British shoe bomber Richard Reid and his possible links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network.
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