Daniel Pearl. Photo: WIkipedia

Pakistani authorities say that they have captured one of the terrorists behind the murder of Daniel Pearl, the Jewish Wall Street Journal bureau chief who was captured and executed by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A Pakistani paramilitary unit says it has captured Qari Abdul Hayyee near Karachi late last week.

Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan in early 2002 while investigating the failed “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s links to al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

While, al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, told U.S. investigators that he was on the one behind the gruesome beheading, the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was also involved in his capture and execution.

A 2011 report by Georgetown University and the Center for Public Integrity that investigated Pearl’s death confirmed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s claim and also said that Qari Abdul Hayye, leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, had guarded Pearl during his capture.

Another British-born Pakistani terrorist, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was arrested and executed by Pakistan in 2002 for Pearl’s death.

Pearl’s parents, Ruth and Judea, expressed gratitude for the capture of one of their son’s murderers.

“We are gratified with this latest arrest and hope that justice will be served on all of those who were involved in this crime against humanity,” they said in a statement.