Karachi, Pakistan ? After a series of hoax e-mails, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal issued an open letter Monday to the group he believes responsible for the kidnapping of reporter Daniel Pearl, asking for a private dialogue to “address your concerns.”

Pearl’s wife, meanwhile, issued an impassioned appeal for his life and said she was willing to die in his place.

Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, left, speaks to reporters Monday in Karachi, Pakistan. Haider said he is hopeful that Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is alive and that police are trying their best to locate him. Pearl was kidnapped last month in Karachi. Inspector General of Police Kamal Shah is at right.

Paul Steiger, the Journal managing editor, addressed the letter to the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.

That organization signed the first e-mail sent on Jan. 27 claiming to have abducted Pearl who disappeared four days earlier. Attached to that claim were photographs of the journalist one with a gun pointed at his head, another with Pearl holding a newspaper dated Jan. 27.

That communication demanded that Washington return Pakistani prisoners held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for trial in Pakistan. The Bush administration has ruled out any negotiations.

“I know that the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty is very serious and wants others to know about its movement. To assure that this happens it is important for you to respond to this message,” Steiger’s letter said.

A number groups have been named by Pakistani authorities as possible suspects in the kidnapping. When asked why Steiger addressed his letter to the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, a Dow Jones’ spokesman said the letter spoke for itself. Dow Jones publishes the Journal.

“I have not heard from you for several days and want to begin a dialogue that will address your concerns and bring about Danny’s safe release,” Steiger’s letter said.

“Since your last e-mail I have received numerous e-mails from people who claim that they are holding Danny. Because of these claims, it has become difficult for me to know that I am communicating with the people holding Danny. These individuals have caused a great deal of confusion.

“Also these numerous messages, which have been made public, detract from your serious concerns. The world is getting a mixed message, and perhaps a negative impression of the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty,” the Steiger letter said.

He suggested the kidnappers use the e-mail account or private telephone number of one of two Pearl friends, both best men at his wedding, to restore communication.

“This line of communication would show me that Danny is with you and would allow us one-to-one contact. We are eager to hear from you soon,” Steiger concluded.

Pearl’s abductors last released a photo of him Wednesday, with a threat to kill him in 24 hours.

Wife offers her life

Mariane Pearl, who is six months pregnant with the couple’s first child, urged the kidnappers to contact her.

“Don’t harm an innocent man because you’re just going to create one more misery,” she said in Karachi in a BBC television interview. “Using Daniel as a symbol and all of this is completely wrong, completely wrong.”

“If anyone’s going to give his life to save him it’s me,” she said. “Please make contact with me I’m ready.”

Twelve days into Pearl’s kidnap ordeal, Pakistan’s interior minister said efforts to find the journalist were now “massive in scale, spread to all parts of Pakistan.”

“We are hopeful that Daniel Pearl is alive,” said the minister, Moinuddin Haider, who is responsible for law and order in Pakistan. “I can’t claim of making any breakthrough though we are getting close to the men involved.”

Pakistan is under pressure to find Pearl before President Pervez Musharraf visits Washington next week. Musharraf met late Monday with U.S. deputy Treasury Secretary Kenneth Dam, and U.S. officials said the Pearl case was believed to have been among the topics.

Musharraf is a key ally in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, turning over airfields for use by U.S. forces and international peacekeepers. He has won praise from Washington for cracking down on Pakistan-based Islamic militants accused of terrorism against nuclear rival India.

A bad image

While the Bush administration says Pakistan is doing everything possible to find Pearl, his abduction threatens to cloud Musharraf’s visit and has already prompted the State Department to warn American citizens about the risks of traveling in Pakistan.

The kidnapping “gives us a bad image and we have decided that our image is of a responsible state and of a responsible country,” Haider told reporters. “So I would appeal to those people, if this message reaches them through you, that, please, release him.”

In Washington, a U.S. official said the Pearl case was a contributing factor to the State Department decision to issue a “worldwide caution” Friday warning of the potential for attacks against American citizens by anti-U.S. groups.

The Associated Press Managing Editors called for Pearl’s immediate and unconditional release and an end to the targeting of journalists for kidnapping or harm in any part of the world.

“Nothing can be gained by continuing to hold Pearl in captivity. He is not a government official; he is in no position to influence U.S. government policy or the multinational war on terrorism,” the APME statement said.