British-born militant Ahmed Saeed Omar Sheikh was indicted on two counts of hostage taking in the kidnapping and slaying of US reporter Mr Daniel Pearl., according to documents released by the Justice Department on Thursday.
The indictments were handed up by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey, and charged him with one count of hostage taking and one count of conspiring to take hostages resulting in the death of Mr Pearl.
The United States has been pressing Pakistan to hand over Sheikh Omar, the confessed mastermind of Pearl's abduction.
He already faces charges in Pakistan, and Islamabad has said it would only consider handing him over once any Pakistan trial had been completed.