ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Director-General ISPR Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi said here on Thursday that investigations conducted so far in the mysterious disappearance of American journalist Daniel Pearl strongly indicated “Indian linkage” to the episode.

Gen Qureshi, who was speaking at the daily press briefing at the Foreign Office along with its spokesman Aziz

A. Khan, was responding to several questions relating to “kidnapping” of Daniel Pearl, a reporter of Wall Street Journal, about a week ago in Karachi.

Gen Qureshi said though he was not in a position to discuss at some length the progress made in hunting down the persons responsible for Mr Daniel’s disappearance in order to avoid jeopardising the investigations that were under way and alerting the perpetrators of the crime, “all that I can say is that there is an Indian linkage” to the incident calculated to defame Pakistan.

He suspected that eventually the present case might also surface as yet another stage-managed incident by India.

Gen Rashid, who is also President’s spokesman, told newsmen that the security agencies had taken into custody a person named Gilani whom Mr Daniel was to meet at a Karachi hotel on the evening he went missing.

He said he could not say more than that at this stage in the interest of further action that was under way to recover the missing journalist.

Gen Qureshi told a reporter there was no doubt that there were many Indian terrorists and agents active in Pakistan, trying to create problems and execute incidents of kidnapping and murders.

Foreign Office spokesman said the government was making every possible effort for the recovery of the US journalist. He said the interior minister was personally supervising the case and he had also met the wife of the kidnapped journalist and the representative of the US government.

“There has been some progress,” he added.

Responding to questions about the statement made by Kashmiri members of the Indian legislature and the Indian government about the settlement of the Kashmir dispute, the Foreign Office spokesman said that the UN resolutions and the Simla Accord called for the resolution of the Kashmir problem through exercise of the will of Kashmiri people and through dialogue.

He said that the United Nations resolutions and the Simla agreement amply stated how the issue was to be resolved between Pakistan and India.