Two more people detained in Pearl kidnapping

Daniel Pearl

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's interior minister, Moinuddin Haider, said Saturday that two more people have been detained for questioning in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

Haider announced the news at a meeting of government officials in Lahore, Pakistan. The possible suspects, who were not named, were picked up in the town of Tobatek Singh in central Punjab province. No information was given on their suspected ties to the case.

On Friday, Haider predicted a breakthrough in the abduction case in the next 24 to 48 hours. However, a source close to the investigation downplayed that expectation on Saturday.

A key suspect in the kidnapping, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh -- who said earlier that Pearl was alive -- contradicted himself on Thursday by saying, "As far as I know, Pearl is dead."

Pearl's friends and colleagues said they still hold out hope he is alive, and his wife, Mariane -- who is several months pregnant -- issued an emotional appeal Thursday for her husband's release or word of his well-being.

"Danny is an innocent man," she wrote, "a journalist who has come to you as a guest with an open mind and the sole objective of writing about your views for a global audience."

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh

A Pakistani government official cautioned that Saeed Sheikh has given several contradictory statements since his capture Tuesday.

Saeed Sheikh, 28, described by Pakistani police as the ringleader of the kidnapping, initially told police Pearl was still alive. He also told the Karachi judge that he was responsible for the reporter's disappearance.

Saeed Sheikh was remanded into police custody until February 25, when he will return to the anti-terrorism court to be formally charged in the kidnapping. Saeed Sheikh has provided little concrete information that could lead to Pearl's release, police have said.

Pearl disappeared January 23 in Karachi, Pakistan, while researching a story he was writing on Richard Reid, the man accused of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. Pearl believed he was on his way to interview an Islamic religious leader thought to have connections with Reid.

E-mails purported to be between Pearl and Saeed Sheikh -- using a pseudonym -- indicated Sheikh had lured Pearl into a trap with vague promises of the interview.