It is "relatively common" for journalists in the Pakistan area to be kidnapped, according to Veronica Forwood of Reporters Without Borders, a group that supports press freedom. She said it was possible Pearl's captors were responsible for another journalist's recent abduction.

Ghulam Hasnain, a Pakistani reporter working for Time magazine, was abducted last week and released several days later, according to Reporters Without Borders. Hasnain has returned home but refused to comment on what happened to him.