Washington ? Muslim extremist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was indicted Thursday in the kidnapping and murder of reporter Daniel Pearl, the government pushing for quick U.S. criminal charges out of concern that Pakistani authorities might release the suspect.

A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., indicted Saeed on charges of conspiring to take Pearl as a hostage and then kidnapping him. Since the Jan. 23 kidnapping resulted in the Wall Street Journal reporter’s death, Saeed could face the death penalty if brought to the United States and convicted.

The charges were filed in New Jersey because Saeed is accused of sending e-mails, using the alias “Chaudrey Bashir,” to Pearl that were relayed electronically through the Journal’s computer network in South Brunswick, N.J., officials said. The kidnapping took place in Pakistan, where Saeed is in custody.

Authorities said Pearl probably already was dead when his kidnappers threatened in an e-mail on Jan. 30 to kill him within 24 hours unless their demands were met. The exact date of Pearl’s slaying remains a mystery. A videotape showing him decapitated was delivered to U.S. officials in Pakistan and is being studied for clues by the FBI.

Announcing the indictment, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said Saeed “methodically set a death trap for Daniel Pearl, lured him into it with lies and savagely ended his life.”

The indictment alleges that Saeed trained at Afghan military camps and also fought with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters last September and October as the war in Afghanistan was beginning. Prosecutors believe the kidnapping plot was hatched in January “to take hostage a journalist from a U.S newspaper in order to affect U.S. government policies,” according to the indictment.

President Bush met with Pearl’s widow, Mariane, in the Oval Office on Thursday. White House aides did not release any details of the meeting. Ashcroft also met privately Thursday in his office with Mrs. Pearl, who is about to give birth to the couple’s son.

The Justice Department also disclosed Thursday separate criminal charges against Saeed in Washington, where a grand jury indicted him in November 2001 on counts of conspiracy to take a hostage, taking a hostage and aiding and abetting. Those charges involved the October 1994 kidnapping of another American, Bela J. Nuss, during a tourist visit to India. Nuss was released after 11 days.

The charges against Saeed in that case carry a maximum of life in prison.

In Pakistan, meanwhile, a man who claims he killed Pearl was being questioned by police. The man, identified only as Adnan, turned himself in Thursday to the newspaper Khabrain in the eastern city of Lahore. The newspaper handed him over to police, chief editor Zia Shahid told The Associated Press by telephone.

“We are trying to verify his credibility,” Lahore police chief Aftab Ahmad Cheema said.

According to Shahid, the man claimed he killed Pearl with an ax on a boat off Karachi. Shahid quoted Adnan as saying he killed Pearl “to teach Jews and America a lesson.”