Pakistan's interior minister has predicted a "major breakthrough" and more arrests within 48 hours in the search for kidnapped US reporter Mr Daniel Pearl.
Mr Moinuddin Haider has rejected a claim from his kidnapper that the reporter is dead. He said Briton Mr Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who confessed to the kidnapping in court, "has been changing his statements".
"There is no evidence to suggest that Mr Pearl has been killed. We cannot accept Sheik Omar's claim as long as there is no evidence," the interior minister said.
Mr Saeed, a former English public schoolboy who became an Islamic militant, had said in a Karachi court yesterday: "As far as I understand, he's dead."
"We are expecting a major breakthrough within a day or two," Mr Haider said. He added police "told me that the investigators have found some leads and those linked to the kidnapping would be arrested within 24 to 48 hours".
More people were detained overnight, said Mr Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, the government official in charge of police in Sindh province.
Wall Street Journalreporter Mr Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi on January 23rd.
PA