SPRINGFIELD, MA (WSHM) -
Pakistani officials have made an arrest linked to the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
"You know when I woke up this morning and heard the news there was a sense of feeling like it's been 11 years here, yet we are still talking about him, and there was just something a little bit warming about that," said Steve Roulier, Pearl's former roommate and co-worker at the North Adams Transcript. "You know we always thought when he died that we wanted to make sure that his memory was still alive and we still celebrated his life and his passion for life and what he meant for trying to bring all these cultures together."
The Wall Street Journal reporter was kidnapped and later beheaded in Pakistan more than a decade ago.
Tuesday two parliamentary officials speaking on the condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that Qari Abdul Hayee the former leader of the Lashkar-e Jhangvi militant group was arrested Sunday.
Hayee was among the group of more than two dozen that were reportedly behind Pearls kidnapping.
In the years since his death two central figures behind his murder have been imprisoned.
"My friends and I we all looked up to Danny. There was just something special about him and we always knew that he was just destined some greatness unfortunately we didn't think this was going to be his fate," said Roulier.
In a statement issued by the Daniel Pearl Foundation Daniel's parents said, "We are gratified with this latest arrest and hope that justice will be served in a timely manner on all those who were involved in the abduction and murder of our son, Danny."
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