India-Pakistan: January 31, 2002

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Pakistani militants holding an American journalist have threatened to kill him within 24 hours unless their demands are met. These include unspecified "better treatment for al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held in Cuba," and the return of Pakistani prisoners to Pakistan for trial. All other foreign journalists were warned to leave the country. The radicals are still unidentified but are believed to be a pro al Qaeda group; Harkat ul-Mujahedeen. Kidnapping Americans, especially journalists, plays into the government's hands, as more pressure can now be applied to the radicals. For this reason, some believe that the ISI (Pakistani intelligence) actually did the kidnapping. If this is the case, the captive will probably be killed and the "radicals" involved will disappear while the case remains forever unsolved. If the ISI is not directly involved, the radicals and their captive probably will be run down. Investigation so far indicates that whoever nabbed the reporter, they were very professional. The reporters is believed to be held in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi.