Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistani officials have arrested a suspect in connection with the gruesome 2002 beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl . Qari Abdul Hayee is believed to be the one who facilitated Pearl 's kidnapping , a senior Pakistani official said . The official , who had direct knowledge of the arrest , did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media . Pearl was kidnapped while researching a story in Karachi about Pakistani militants and the so-called `` shoe bomber '' Richard Reid . He was later decapitated , and a video of his killing was sent to U.S. officials . The chilling video . In addition to showing violent footage of Pearl 's death , the video also showed Pearl discussing his Jewish heritage and making propaganda statements , apparently under duress . The tape began with the correspondent saying , `` My name is Daniel Pearl . I 'm a Jewish-American . '' `` My father is Jewish , my mother is Jewish . I am a Jew , '' he said . Then , looking at the camera , he recounted numerous family visits to Israel and noted that a street in a town in Israel was named after his great-grandfather , who was one of the founders of the town . On the tape , the group that claimed responsibility for Pearl 's abduction -- the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistan 's Sovereignty -- demanded that Pakistanis being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , be released . The group also demanded an end to the U.S. presence in Pakistan end as well as the delivery of F-16 fighter jets , which Pakistan purchased from the United States but never received . Photos of hands backed up Pearl slaying confession , report finds . The arrest . Hayee was arrested Sunday in a paramilitary operation targeting militants in Karachi . `` It was a covert operation based on intelligence information , '' the Pakistani official said . Troops also recovered weapons during the raid that netted Hayee , the official said . Other suspects . Hayee joins several other suspects who have been arrested in connection with Pearl 's kidnapping and murder . Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh , a British-born Islamic militant , was sentenced to death by hanging by an anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad in connection with Pearl 's murder . Three accomplices received life sentences , which in Pakistan usually means 25 years . In 2003 , Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- who is also a suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States -- was arrested in Pakistan and has confessed to killing Pearl . Federal agents backed up Mohammed 's confession by comparing photos of the veins in his hands and the vein patterns of an assailant in the video of Pearl 's killing , according to a report by Georgetown University students and faculty and the Center for Public Integrity . But Mohammed has not been charged in Pearl 's death . According to the report , U.S. officials decided against bringing charges in the Pearl case to avoid complicating Mohammed 's prosecution for the 9/11 attacks . Al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna said Mohammed ordered Pearl 's death . `` Daniel Pearl was going in search of the al Qaeda network that was operational in Karachi , and it was at the instruction of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that Daniel Pearl was killed , '' Gunaratna said . Obama signs Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act . Words from his widow . Pearl 's death should be a global wake-up call about `` a vast and international network of terrorists , '' his widow said . `` I know Danny has not been defeated '' by those who killed him , Mariane Pearl told CNN weeks after her husband 's death . `` His spirit , his faith and his conviction have not been defeated . '' She said governments across the world must take responsibility for fighting terror and citizens should take an active role in considering their countries ' foreign policies . `` If people in the world do not realize that they 're not immune against this anymore , then nothing will , '' she said . Mormon proxy baptism of Daniel Pearl draws family 's ire .
Officials suspect Pearl facilitated Pearl kidnapping . CNN reporter was kidnapped and decapitated in 2002 . A suspected one mastermind confessed to killing Daniel Pearl 's . He was in Karachi researching a story about militants and terrorism .