Search on for suspected slayers of WSJ reporter Pearl

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The hunt for the killers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is targeting three Arab nationals -- an indication, investigators say, that the perpetrators may be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network. \nAuthorities offered little information Sunday about the Arabs' identity or what role they might have played. But their alleged involvement -- combined with investigators' revelation that a key suspect now in custody said he met personally with bin Laden in Afghanistan.\nPolice believe a dozen or more people were involved in Pearl's abduction and murder, and that most of them have spent time in Afghanistan as supporters of that country's ousted Taliban regime. Their links to al Qaeda are being studied, investigators said. \nFour key suspects were already in police custody when U.S. and Pakistani authorities revealed the contents of a videotape Friday that showed images of the 38-year-old journalist getting his throat slit. \nAhmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the British-born Islamic militant who police believe masterminded Pearl's abduction, has been in police custody since early February. \nSaeed also told investigators that his group wanted to teach the United States a lesson and Pearl's murder was just a first step, intelligence officials said. \nMonday, prosecutors will formally charge Saeed and three co-defendants with kidnapping and murder, a senior government official said. \nBefore his abduction Jan. 23, Pearl had been investigating alleged links between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, who was arrested in December for allegedly trying to ignite explosives in his sneakers.\nWith Saeed in jail, the prime target of a massive police dragnet is Amjad Faruq. \nThe investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three suspects currently in custody have been to Afghanistan and were close to the Taliban. Ousted by the U.S.-led coalition last year, the Taliban had provided a safe haven to al Qaeda, many of whose members are Arab. \nAnother four Pakistani suspects currently being sought are also believed to have spent time in Afghanistan under the auspices of the Taliban. \nAuthorities also are searching for a suspect who goes by both Asim and Kasim. He is believed to be one of the hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane that was diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1999. Saeed was released from an Indian prison in a prisoner-hostage swap in that case. \nAnother suspect is Hashim Qadeer, whom Pearl apparently knew as Arif. Like Faruqi, he is believed to be a leader of the outlawed Pakistani Islamic militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. \nCiting its graphic content, authorities say they will not make a videotape confirming Pearl's death available to the news media. A source close to the investigation who said he saw one tape said it lasted for about three minutes and consisted of three segments. \nSpeaking on condition of anonymity, he offered this account: \nIn the first segment, Pearl is forced to say that he is Jewish and that both his mother and his father are also Jewish. He is also forced to give a statement denouncing America's actions against Muslims. \nIn the second segment, the journalist is shown lying on the ground, apparently unconscious or already dead, with his throat slit. \nThe third segment shows Pearl decapitated. \nPearl's body has not been found and one investigator said that it will be difficult to find unless the remaining suspects are apprehended. \nA source close to the investigation told the Associated Press that the person who obtained the tape was not a journalist but rather someone who was "posing as a journalist"