The father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl said a top Al Qaeda operative, accused by the Pakistani president of killing the young reporter, should be punished if his role in the crime was proven. Former Al Qaeda No 3 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the attacks of September 9/11, was blamed by Musharraf in his book for killing Pearl, or taking part in his 2002 murder in Karachi. "It is important if Mohammed had any part in the crime, he should be brought to justice," said Judea Pearl late on Thursday in an interview over the telephone from New York. Mohammed, a dual Kuwaiti-Pakistani citizen, was arrested in 2003 in Pakistan and had been held by US authorities in a secret location until he and 13 other terror suspects were recently transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Pakistani officials had not previously confirmed Mohammed's role in Pearl's brutal murder after his kidnapping on January 23, 2002. Musharraf, however, wrote in his book, "The man who may have actually killed Pearl or at least participated in his butchery, we eventually discovered, was none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."