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The telegram said, in part:

“Dear Mrs Pearl,

“Please accept my most sincere sympathies over the tragic death of your husband.

“He became another innocent victim of people and organisations that have made violence, kidnapping and murder their occupation. International terrorism knows of no boundaries or ethnic limitations. It is active in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the Middle East and the Balkans, and elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately we, too, in Russia whose part, Chechnya, the terrorists have made their base, are experiencing the effects of their inhuman crimes. Thousands of people – Russian and foreign citizens – have become victims of their violence, brutal acts of terror and hostage-taking. This is why we understand and share your sorrow as our own.

“It was to counter this global challenge to security and people’s prosperity that Russia and the US, as well as other countries, united their forces. We will do everything in our power to uproot this evil, to wipe out the terrorist threat and find and render harmless all those bringing destruction and death.

“Please convey my sympathies to Daniel Pearl’s parents, to all his near and dear ones, and to colleagues from his newspaper, The Wall Street Journal.”

The 38-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent in South Asia was kidnapped at the end of January by Islamic extremists in Karachi. Last week, the US State Department reported that the American Embassy in Pakistan had received incontrovertible proof of the reporter’s death. According to the Pakistani media, he was beheaded.