WASHINGTON, Feb 22: The United States reacted with shock and outrage to news of the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

President George Bush, in China on an official visit, said he was deeply saddened by the loss of Mr Pearl’s life, and added that those “who would threaten Americans, those who would engage in criminal, barbaric acts need to know that these crimes only hurt their cause and only deepen the resolve of the United States of America to rid world of these agents of terror.”

The State Department issued a statement describing the reporter’s killing as an outrage. It said both the US and Pakistan were committed to identifying the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice. “We will continue to work closely with the Pakistani authorities, who had made every effort to locate and free Mr Pearl.”

There were reports that the US justice department was forming a grand jury to try those suspected of involvement in the crime, including Shaikh Omar Saeed, who is now in the custody of the Pakistani authorities. It is likely that the US will seek extradition of the suspects.

Newspaper accounts on Friday referred to persisting questions about the circumstances in which Saeed had surrendered himself. Saeed has claimed he had turned himself in on Feb 5 to the Punjab home secretary, but his disclosure in custody was made on Feb 12, when President Pervez Musharraf began a visit to Washington.

A spokesman for Pearl’s family said they had hoped that Pearl was alive, but their worst fears had now been realized. They could not imagine that anyone would “harm such a gentle soul”.

The New York Times in an editorial said Mr Pearl’s killing “reinforces the urgency of Gen Musharraf’s effort to turn Pakistan away from radical Islamic fundamentalism”.

The Wall Street Journal issued a statement, saying the reporter’s colleagues were “heartbroken”.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, saying Pearl had died searching for the truth, described the journalist’s murder as a brutal, wanton, and senseless crime. It called on Pakistani authorities to “devote the full resources at their disposal to apprehend and prosecute his killers”.

Expressions of outrage have also come from various Pakistani American community organizations, and US-based correspondents of Pakistani newspapers in a statement said Mr Pearl’s murder had brought no political gain to the perpetrators and only underlined again the insanity that masquerades in the garb of nationalism and religion.