DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's keep it on Danny Pearl and news coming out today. Officials in Pakistan saying it is possible that Daniel Pearl could be released as early as today. With more on that, let's check in with Ben Wedeman in Karachi.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pakistani police have arrested a key suspect in the kidnapping of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. The police arrested British born and educated Sheikh Omar Saeed Tuesday afternoon in the northeastern Pakastani city of Lajore. Pakistani authorities described Saeed as the ringleader of the group holding the American journalist. The 27-year-old Islamic militant has been the focus of an intense nationwide manhunt. According to senior police sources, in the course of a preliminary interrogation, Saeed told them that Daniel Pearl is alive and is in Karachi. The same sources said that with Saeed in custody and apparently cooperating, the release of Daniel Pearl may not be far off. Sheikh Omar Saeed is not new to kidnapping. He was arrested in 1994 in India for involvement in the abduction of British and American tourists. Five years later, he was released as part of deal to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Intelligence sources believe that Sheikh Omar Saeed has close ties with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and wired funds to two of the hijackers involved in the September 11th attacks on the United States. While hopes for Pearl's release have been raised before, only to be dashed, the police here are increasingly confident that the ordeal of the American journalist may be about to come to an end. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Karachi.
Prime Suspect in Pearl Kidnapping Arrested in Karachi