New terror head aided journo slay

ISLAMABAD. Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian militant recently appointed interim leader of al Qaeda operations, has been linked to the killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002, U.S. investigators reported.

A Wall Street Journal reporter, Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in January 2002 while researching a story on Islamist militants, and was later beheaded.

The findings by the Pearl Project revealed al-Adel had discussed Pearl’s abduction with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the accused mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.