Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence and Al Qaeda.
Hamza, 29, has assumed a senior position within Al Qaeda and was aiming to avenge the death of his father, who was shot dead during a covert US military raid in Pakistan's Abbottabad seven years ago, Osama's half-brothers Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas were quoted as saying.