President Obama-Daniel Pearl: law honoring slain reporter

President Obama-Daniel Pearl: Law honoring slain reporter.

President Obama was joined by Pearl’s widow Mariane and their son Adam, 7, in the Oval Office as he signed the law in honor of the slain Daniel Pearl. The law will single out foreign governments that “shackle” press freedoms.

The president said the law “sends a strong message from the US government and the State Department that we’re paying attention on how foreign governments are operating when it comes to the press.”  “This legislation, in a very modest way, puts us clearly on the side of journalistic freedom.”

Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi on January 23, 2002 while researching a story about Islamist militants.  He was later killed by his kidnappers.

Mariane Pearl was pregnant with their son (now 7) when her husband was murdered.

A  video showing his decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in the city nearly a month later.  Al-Qaeda’s alleged mastermind kingpin Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — who claimed responsibility for beheading Pearl and is now in US custody.