Journalist still missing

KARACHI, Pakistan -- With leads into Islamic extremist groups running dry, Pakistani investigators said Sunday they were expanding their search for the kidnappers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl into Karachi's murky criminal underworld. \nThe investigation has been complicated because of several e-mails purportedly from the kidnappers that police now believe were hoaxes. \nInvestigators still consider Islamic extremists, especially Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, as the most likely suspects in the Jan. 23 abduction of Pearl, the newspaper's South Asian bureau chief. \nPearl, 38, was working on a story about Islamic fundamentalists and was trying to arrange an interview with Sheik Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, the leader of a small militant group. \n"So far no breakthrough has been made, but some progress has been made in investigations," Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said Sunday. \nHowever, other investigators, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police still had no firm idea who was holding Pearl or where. Pakistani authorities hope for a breakthrough in the case before President Pervez Musharraf visits the U.S. next week. \n"The various agencies of the United States government are actively trying to be helpful," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "The Pakistani government is being very cooperative and is doing what they can do." \nCondoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, also expressed satisfaction with Pakistan's efforts to solve the case. \n"We certainly hope that the kidnappers understand what they're doing, whatever cause they are promoting, is no good here, and that Daniel Pearl needs to be released and released right away," she said on "Fox News Sunday." \nPakistani police, however, have been unable to find two primary suspects, Mohammed Hashim and Bashir Ahmad Shabbir. Hashim, also known as Arif, is believed to be a Harkat ul-Mujahedeen activist, and Shabbir was a follower of Gilani, police said. \nGilani was arrested last week, but investigators say it is uncertain whether he played any role in the abduction. \nIn the capital, Islamabad, a top-level government task force met Sunday to review the investigation. A source who took part in the meeting said the participants discussed the possibility that the kidnapping may have been carried out by one of Karachi's numerous criminal gangs. \nThe source spoke on condition of anonymity.