US State Department confirms death of Daniel Pearl

[SyedA]

US State Department confirms death of abducted Wall Street Journal reporter: WASHINGTON, Feb 21: The US State Department confirmed today that Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped last month in Pakistan, is dead. "Our embassy in Pakistan has confirmed today that they have received evidence that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is dead," spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement. (AFP) (Posted @ 03:20 PST, Friday)

There is going to be serious reprecussions against these so called jihadi organizations. Pakistan will be pressurised more by US to stop supporting and start hunting these orgs.

[omear]

their own stupidity has sealed their fate.

[nausherwan]

who ever has done this has done irrepairable damage to Pakistan. Now you can expect no Investment and Tourism in Pakistan. People will hate us!!! The baboons at BR are jumping. Time to shut them up.

[Awaisi]

Sallam,

The zeal and fervor shown by Bhindian press in reporting Daniel Pearl story clearly indicates its intelligence agency's hand in this unfortunate incident. Their only objectives was to malign Pakistan by establishing link between the shoebomber and Kashmiri groups. Now it is upto Pak Govt. to bring the facts to surface including the confessions obtained from his abductor and expose Bhindians complicity in his abduction and susequently his killing.

One goon on Bharat Buk-buk forum, even many days ago had predicted that Pearl would be killed.

Awaisi
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Ali Mian]

Asalaa-u-Alaikum,

I agree this is indeed a terrible tragedy, those responsible should be held accountable. What I dont understand is the people responsible for this crime, do they not have any shred of intellegent thought? How does this in any way help the cause of Islam, or promote Pakistan? These so called Pakistan Nationalists are not nationalists at all rather they are against Pakistan by taking actions contrary to the interests of Pakistan and teachings of Islam.

This will only further increase hatred against Muslims through out the world and defame Pakistan while harming her interests in every way.

Though all those arrested are Pakistani's, I wonder if the Bhindians have something to do with this. I remember earlier reports of phone calls made by some of the arrested to India and stuff. Dont know if its true but worth investigating. Regardless, the government should crack down and take tough action against thugs like these no matter who they are.

Wasalaam
Ali

[Usman S.]

NEW YORK — Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is dead, killed by Islamic militants who took him hostage in Pakistan, the State Department announced Thursday.

Reaction to the announcement was swift. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ordered security forces to apprehend "each and every one of the gang of terrorists" involved in Pearl's killing. In Beijing, President Bush said "all Americans are sad and angry to learn of the murder."

"May God bless Daniel Pearl," Bush said.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher provided no details on the evidence. However, the FBI has obtained a videotape from Pakistani authorities that showed Pearl being killed, and is evaluating the tape's authenticity, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pearl was kidnapped in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Jan. 23. The interior minister of the Sindh province, which includes Karachi, said the videotape "contained scenes showing Mr. Pearl in captivity and scenes of his murder by the kidnappers."

"The tape appears to be correct," said the minister, Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh.

Pearl's parents and two sisters said they were "shocked and saddened" by the news.

"Up until a few hours ago, we were confident that Danny would return safely, for we believe that no human being could be capable of harming such a gentle soul," they said in a statement.

Pearl, whose pregnant wife is also a journalist, was abducted after arranging to interview the leader of a radical Muslim faction with purported ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist network and terror suspect Richard C. Reid. In December, Reid was arrested on a Paris-Miami flight he allegedly boarded with explosives in his shoes.

Pakistani police have seized several suspects, including an extremist who said in court that he engineered Pearl's abduction.

It was not immediately clear when the tape was made.

In a statement, the Journal said Pearl's "murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny's kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots."

The Journal statement, signed by Publisher Peter Kann and Managing Editor Paul Steiger, called Pearl "an outstanding colleague, a great reporter, and a dear friend of many at the Journal."

"We will, in coming months, find ways, public and private, to celebrate the great work and good works Danny did. But today is a day to grieve," it said.

Journal spokesman Steve Goldstein said he did not know if a body had been recovered.

In Beijing, a grim-faced Bush decried Pearl's slaying and said such crimes "only deepen the resolve of the United States" to fight terrorism. He spoke Friday, on the last day of his six-day Asia tour.

Musharraf's office said the Pakistani president "offered his heartfelt condolences to the wife of Mr. Pearl, his family and to the editors and journalists of The Wall Street Journal."

The killing "will not deter him, his government and the people of Pakistan from acting with all their strength against terrorists and in fighting this menace together with the international community," the statement said.

Pakistani officials said there were indications that Pearl had been lured into a trap by false information.

Four days after Pearl disappeared, an e-mail sent to Pakistani and international media showed photos of him in captivity and demanded that the United States repatriate Pakistanis captured in Afghanistan and detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A second e-mail sent Jan. 30 said Pearl would be killed in 24 hours. That was the last known message from his captors. Fox News received these e-mails along with other media outlets and diligently passed them on to the proper authorities.

On Feb. 12, Islamic militant Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh was arrested in the case. He said during a court hearing that he had engineered Pearl's abduction to protest Pakistan's alliance with the United States' post-Sept. 11 war on terrorism.

"Our country shouldn't be catering to America's needs," the militant said.

According to Pakistani authorities, Saeed, a British-born key figure in an airplane hijacking and hostage incident in 1999, first told them Pearl was alive but later claimed the reporter had been killed in an escape attempt around Jan. 31.

In Karachi, police officials said the investigation was now focusing on Amjad Faruqi, identified by Saeed as the man who actually carried out the kidnapping. Police raided his home last week but found no sign of him.

Police are also looking for a man identified as Hashim Qadeer, whom Pearl knew as Arif. His family claims he was killed in Afghanistan.

Pakistani police say they are unsure how many people may have been involved because individual militants sometimes use aliases and tracking them is difficult.

The State Department said it was working closely with Pakistani authorities.

"Both the United States and Pakistan are committed to identifying all the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice," spokesman Boucher said.

Pearl's wife, Mariane, is seven months pregnant with the couple's first child. A free-lance journalist, she had been working with him in Pakistan.

In the statement issued from their home in California, Pearl's parents and sisters said: "Danny's senseless murder is beyond our comprehension. Danny was a beloved son, a brother, an uncle, a husband and a father to a child who will never know him."

"We're shocked and saddened about the confirmation that our worst fears have been realized," the statement said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,46232,00.html

[Usman S.]

Daniel Pearl is dead: WSJ

Pakistani officials, State Dept confirm; video shows captor severing head

WASHINGTON: Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Pakistan, is dead, the newspaper reported on Thursday, citing US and Pakistani officials.

"We now believe, based on reports from the US State Department and police officials of Sindh, that Danny Pearl was killed by his captors," Journal Publisher Peter Kann said in a prepared statement.

Daniel Pearl appears to be dead on a videotape reviewed by the FBI in the region, a US official said. "My understanding is that the FBI in Pakistan obtained a copy of a videotape on which it appears to be Daniel Pearl and he appears to be dead," the official, who has not seen the tape, told Reuters.

"Danny was an outstanding colleague, a great reporter, and a dear friend of many at the Journal," Kann said. "His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny's kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots."

The 38-year-old reporter was kidnapped January 23 in Karachi after going to meet with sources for a story he was working on.

Two photo e-mails, showing him in chains and with a gun pointed at his head, were later sent to news organisations demanding the release of Pakistani prisoners from the war in Afghanistan and the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan in exchange for his freedom. Washington and Islamabad rejected the demand. --Agencies

News Desk adds: Sources said the video tape received by the US Consulate a few days ago showed Pearl interviewing some one when an unidentified person pulled his head back from the hair and severed his head with a knife. The consulate was trying to establish veracity of the tape for the last few days.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html

[Usman S.]

President Musharraf condoles death of Daniel Pearl
(Updated at 1130 PST)
ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf on Friday expressed his deep grief at the distressing death of Mr. Daniel Pearl, Wall Street Journal reporter.

In a condolence message President offered his heartfelt condolences to the wife of Mr. Pearl, his family, and to the Editors and Journalists of the Wall Street Journal.

The President said: "his heart goes out to the family and friends of the slain journalist. He said his wife joins him in sharing the grief of Mrs.Daniel Pearl."

________________________________________________

President Musharraf directs apprehension of terrorists involved in Daniel’s Murder
(Updated at 1150 PST)
President Pervez Musharraf has directed the government of Sindh and other national security agencies to apprehend each and every member of the gang of terrorists involved in this gruesome murder.

Such acts of terror, the President said,"were gruesome experiences for the society but would not deter him, his government and the people of Pakistan from acting with all their strength against terrorists and in fighting this menace together with the international community."

________________________________________________

Reporter's slaying deepens US resolve to wipe out 'agents of terror': Bush
(Updated at 1200 PST)
BEIJING: US President George W. Bush said the slaying of abducted Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has deepened US resolve to wipe out "agents of terror" on a day further blackened by the crash of a US army helicopter involved in anti-terrorism exercises in the Philippines.

"Those who would threaten Americans, those who would engage in criminal, barbaric acts, need to know that these crimes only hurt their cause and only deepen the resolve of the United States of America to rid the world of these agents of terror," Bush said.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html

[Waqqas]

"The zeal and fervor shown by Bhindian press in reporting Daniel Pearl story clearly indicates its intelligence agency's hand in this unfortunate incident"

Absolutely right, Awaisi. This entire drama was so obvious from the start. It was clearly somebody out to malign Pakistan. Besides, who would be stupid enough to think the US would cave in to the demands of such people?

It is about time Pak government launches a major crackdown on bharti agents in the country, as these people are doing great damage to our nation by carrying out such acts and blaming them upon the Pakistani nation.

[osman]

We should now go all out after the people responsible for this act and their bhindian connection, we have waited too long in exposing the bhindian role. Enough is enough

[SyedA]

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=004790&p=1

losers there want US to bomb Pakistan over pearl and turn it into Afghanistan. What is wrong with these people. They wanna show the world that everything in the world that is wrong pakistani govt. is behind it.

[Awaisi]

Syed,

If you dont mind, I would like to suggest that, we should not post link to the Bharat Bukbuk forum and divert traffic there. Just a reference to it is enough.

Awaisi

[afridi]

I think something that the press in India has ignored from the start is that the Pakistani authorities were very quick to call in the FBI and a few people have been muttering the fact that the FBI were "leading" the investigation and were "annoyed" when "they" uncovered the phone calls to our neighbour's esteemed leaders.


This, though played down by them, may go a few steps to explaining why there has not been a serious diplomatic row with us.
That and ofcourse the publicised arrests and the transparent way in which the media, foriegn and domestic, was allowed to "follow" the case and arrests did much to quell any reprisal.

Now, the question is what do we do about these two pin organisations that "may" have links beyond our borders. How do we shut them down without every two bit politician (and a few party leaders sitting outside) and payrolled judge/journalist kicking a fuss in the press about "judicial" process.

[SyedA]

I think everyone associated with this case should be extradited to US to make an example out of this kidnapping. It is noticable that even in US media such as wold blitzer report they talked highly of Musharaf and said he is the only leader available in Pakistan who US can work and can curb this kinda militant behavior.

One of the senators who was recently in pakistan said we should help Pakistan in this tough time and mentioned that Musharaf had warned of this back lash after he curbed all the militant organizations in pakistan so this should have been expected by the US.

[H Khan]

I think Pakistan Govt and Justice system should show the world what people of Pakistahn stand for.

"Hang em High!".....in a open public place for the world to look at them.

[osman]

No doubt time to kick some bloody bhindian A**s plus that of their local collaboraters

[afridi]

I agree with Syed, and I am sure many in the administration will be thinking along these lines too.
We should first "try" them and then Extradite them. (try them so that the precedent could be used against any criminals India asks for....thus not letting teh diplomatic row start over it).

Giving the guilty sentences that "commence" AFTER having served any sentence that the "US" provides them will be a great deterent to any idiot listening to our dear neighbours.


Ofcourse, the admin might have something more in plan.

[SyedA]

I think Police has been infiltrated by the indian goons and the LeT, HT and similar organizations. This needs to be cleaned up ASAP. Anyone who has found with any kinda associated to these organizations should be removed and handed over to MI or NAB for further interrogation/investigation.

Lot of these organizations operate with the help of police. I think any organization who needs to help kashmiris should be in Kashmir and not in Karachi, Lahore or islamabad. Thier officers were already shut down.

Some key steps need to be taken along the lines to monitor these so called jihadis from kashmir roaming around in cities for recruiting purposes. it should be mendatory for them to report to police stations in every city when they arrive and keep the authorities posted about their activities and reason for visiting.

hanging these kidnappers in pakistan would make situation worse. I think they should simply be extradited to US since Omar is not a pakistani citizen anyway. let England and US battle it out. The rest of the accomplice who are Pakistani citizens should be hung if proven guilty.

[Zeeshan Syed]

Originally posted by H Khan
I think Pakistan Govt and Justice system should show the world what people of Pakistahn stand for.

"Hang em High!".....in a open public place for the world to look at them.

I agree!!! Infact.. if I were the President of Pakistan. I would have encourged the Decapitation of such such...... barbaric people. OH on more thing.. people here are talking about Bhindians. Yes.. I agree but hey.. lets not forget it is the PAKI PEOPLE who are "DIRECTLY" involved in this case. There should be an all out ban on Mudrasas and Mullahisim shud be banned right away!!!!

HELL I HATE THESE PEPOLE!

[osman]

Originally posted by Zeeshan Syed


I agree!!! Infact.. if I were the President of Pakistan. I would have encourged the Decapitation of such such...... barbaric people. OH on more thing.. people here are talking about Bhindians. Yes.. I agree but hey.. lets not forget it is the PAKI PEOPLE who are "DIRECTLY" involved in this case. There should be an all out ban on Mudrasas and Mullahisim shud be banned right away!!!!

HELL I HATE THESE PEPOL!
if you knew better then you wont call pakistanis as "Paki" please mind your language

[H Khan]

ISLAMABAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Top Pakistani investigators received threatening calls from people using the mobile phone of murdered U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl a day before U.S. officials received a video showing his brutal killing.

A source close to the investigations said on Saturday three senior officials investigating Pearl's abduction received a number of calls on February 20 warning them of "dire consequences" if they did not stop chasing them.

The source said before the calls, investigators had stepped up their search by fanning out to the largely lawless Northwest Frontier and Baluchistan Provinces, which border Afghanistan, as well as central Punjab province.

"They told the investigators how many children each one of them have, when they go to school, which mode of transport they use for going to school and returning back home and where their families go for shopping," the source said.

"They had very minute and precise information about the activities of their family members," the source said. "The investigators were alarmed and informed the interior minister (Moinhuddin Haider)."

Pearl disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on January 23 as he tried to contact Islamic radical groups and investigate possible links between alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid and the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, whom Washington suspects of being behind the September 11 suicide attacks on the United States.

His body has not been found and it is unclear when or where Pearl was killed.

11:00 02-23-02

[uazim]

Originally posted by H Khan
ISLAMABAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Top Pakistani investigators received threatening calls from people using the mobile phone of murdered U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl a day before U.S. officials received a video showing his brutal killing.

A source close to the investigations said on Saturday three senior officials investigating Pearl's abduction received a number of calls on February 20 warning them of "dire consequences" if they did not stop chasing them.

The source said before the calls, investigators had stepped up their search by fanning out to the largely lawless Northwest Frontier and Baluchistan Provinces, which border Afghanistan, as well as central Punjab province.

"They told the investigators how many children each one of them have, when they go to school, which mode of transport they use for going to school and returning back home and where their families go for shopping," the source said.

"They had very minute and precise information about the activities of their family members," the source said. "The investigators were alarmed and informed the interior minister (Moinhuddin Haider)."

Pearl disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on January 23 as he tried to contact Islamic radical groups and investigate possible links between alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid and the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, whom Washington suspects of being behind the September 11 suicide attacks on the United States.

His body has not been found and it is unclear when or where Pearl was killed.

11:00 02-23-02

This shows how organized these goons are, PM govt. should have realized that long time ago, and now they should take pre-cautionary measure to protect all vital Pakistani officials and clam down hard on these fanatics. They have already caused a great harm to Pakistan and Islam and they will not miss a chance to do it again. We need to cut their roots/funding/support and make sure that they are able to do any mischief in future.

UA

[Farooq]

From the above it appears the instigators of this hideous crime are no numskull run of the mill, so called 'Islamic fundo's/extremists'. It appears some intelligence agency are backing/training them. I would still keep a very active option open on there being RAW involvement.

Why, because the Islamic parties have already been humbled, and they would be aware that any such incident like a foreigner being kidnapped would backfire in result in adverse negative publicity, internally and externally.

The only people who would have anything to gain would be the Indians, why because it would help them in projecting Pakistan as a 'haven' for terrorism, and that foreigners should not invest or go to Pakistan as they would not be safe.

From another point of view after the initial -ve publicity after 9/11, Pakistan started getting a lot of +ve write up from foreign journalists when they realised that NWFP excepted, Pakistan is actually far safer and better for your health than India. So RAW had this chap killed, as a result India has to a degree succeeded in portraying Pakistan as lawless, Justaminit Singh has again recently started trumping up Pakistan as a failed state.

What would set the cat among the pidgeons, MOIN H are you reading this, would be if this Sheik Omar guy starting 'singing like a canary' providing us with all sorts of information about his links with India, just as the Indians claim he did about his links to Pakistan.

Maybe he might just 'sing' that he was trained by RAW, lets see the Indians crawl out of that one.

[H Khan]

Originally posted by Farooq
From the above it appears the instigators of this hideous crime are no numskull run of the mill, so called 'Islamic fundo's/extremists'. It appears some intelligence agency are backing/training them. I would still keep a very active option open on there being RAW involvement.

Why, because the Islamic parties have already been humbled, and they would be aware that any such incident like a foreigner being kidnapped would backfire in result in adverse negative publicity, internally and externally.

The only people who would have anything to gain would be the Indians, why because it would help them in projecting Pakistan as a 'haven' for terrorism, and that foreigners should not invest or go to Pakistan as they would not be safe.

From another point of view after the initial -ve publicity after 9/11, Pakistan started getting a lot of +ve write up from foreign journalists when they realised that NWFP excepted, Pakistan is actually far safer and better for your health than India. So RAW had this chap killed, as a result India has to a degree succeeded in portraying Pakistan as lawless, Justaminit Singh has again recently started trumping up Pakistan as a failed state.

What would set the cat among the pidgeons, MOIN H are you reading this, would be if this Sheik Omar guy starting 'singing like a canary' providing us with all sorts of information about his links with India, just as the Indians claim he did about his links to Pakistan.

Maybe he might just 'sing' that he was trained by RAW, lets see the Indians crawl out of that one.



Farooq,

I more or less agree aith your assessment.

[H Khan]

By Asim Tanveer


MULTAN, Pakistan, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A key suspect being hunted by Pakistan in connection with the kidnap-murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl was seen, just days before Pearl vanished, with a man who has already confessed to the abduction.

Residents of suspected kidnapper Amjad Hussain Farooqi's home village, known as 682/27-GB, said Hussain stayed there one night in the third week of January with an Arabic-speaking man and the British-born Islamic militant who confessed last week in a Pakistan court to masterminding Pearl's abduction.

Residents of 682/27-GB in the Toba Tek Singh district of Pakistan's Punjab province said this week that Hussain, known to Pearl as Imtiaz Siddiqui, had arrived there in a Toyota truck in the company of self-confessed kidnap mastermind Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and the Arabic-speaking man.

Security forces were scouring Pakistan for Hussain and his suspected accomplices Qasim (one name) and Hashmir Qadir, even while the Pakistan government on Saturday refused to release a videotape that a government official has said shows Pearl's throat being cut and later his severed head.

Residents of the village, located about 350 km (217 miles) south of Islamabad, said Hussain, aged between 35 and 40, was well known for his Islamic militant links and had even tried to recruit locals for jihad (holy struggle) in Afghanistan and the troubled, Indian-ruled province of Kashmir.

"Hussain had told me on many occasions that he was giving weapons training to youths in camps in Kashmir," said Qari Ghulam Akbar, who was detained when police combed the village for Hussain last week.

"He also invited me for jihad but I told him that it was not possible for me as I was teaching Koran to children at the mosque school," said Akbar, cleric of the village mosque.

For some in Pakistan, waging jihad is a matter of prestige. Before the September 11 attacks on the United States, it was common for militants to talk openly about their activities, particularly in restive Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over Indian-ruled but Muslim-dominated Kashmir. Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of arming and training Islamic militants. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only offers moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

RECRUITED VILLAGERS

Residents said Hussain was believed to have recruited about 200 people from his village and surrounding areas to fight in Afghanistan following the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks in New York and Washington, believed to have been masterminded by Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

It is not clear if he was involved with Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban regime or al Qaeda. But his suspected involvement in Afghanistan is part of what is believed to be a long history of links to Islamic militancy that began at least 15 years ago.

The United States bombed Afghanistan last year for the Taliban's refusal to hand over bin Laden, whom the United States accuses of being the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks which killed more than 3,000 people. The Taliban were overthrown by the U.S.-supported Northern Alliance.

Village residents said Hussain is married, has a four-year-old daughter and was educated at Gojra College in the nearby district of Faisalabad.

Villagers who know him and were willing to talk said he joined one of the many militant groups fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir in 1988. They also said he had served as bodyguard to Maulana Azhar Masood, suspected chief of banned militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Masood, linked by India to the December 13 suicide attack on India's parliament in New Delhi, and Sheikh Omar were among three people released from jail in 1999 in a deal to free 155 passengers of an Indian airliner hijacked to the Afghan city of Kandahar.

NO COINCIDENCE

Pakistani newspapers have also said Sheikh Omar might have been involved in the hijacking.

Hussain's link to Sheikh Omar may not be a coincidence. Sheikh Omar was jailed in 1994 over the kidnapping of four Western tourists in India. Those captives were freed after a police raid.

India's Hindustan Times reported on February 16 that Pakistani police also believed Hussain fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and was a member of the Harkat ul-Mujahideen militant group.

The newspaper said the group had a long history of abductions and wanted revenge against the United States because about 2,000 of its members had been killed in the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.

Cleric Akbar said Hussain last visited the village in the third week of January.

"I last met him a month ago when he came to attend early morning prayers in the mosque. I have no idea when he had arrived in the village and how he arrived."

Ehsan (one name), who runs a public telephone office and who was detained by police for questioning, told interrogators Hussain made a call to Canada. "I will complete the mission," Hussain was quoted by Ehsan as saying on the telephone.

Days later on January 23 Pearl disappeared after he arranged to meet Hussain at the Village Restaurant in Karachi in the early evening.

15:54 02-23-02

[Awaisi]

http://www.dawn.com/2002/02/15/top6.htm

Brig Cheema says Omar misleading investigators

By Arshad Sharif

ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: The statement by Sheikh Omar that Daniel Pearl is dead may well be a message for the kidnappers to kill the Wall Street Journal reporter, senior officials in the federal interior ministry told Dawn here on Thursday.

"Either it is a message for the kidnappers or he is trying to take the pressure off him and mislead the investigators," said Brigadier Javed Cheema, Director-general of Crisis Management Cell of the Interior Ministry.

The interior ministry officials, doubting the veracity of the claim by the prime suspect in the kidnapping case, said the credibility of Sheikh Omar's statement was doubtful as first he claimed that Daniel was alive and then he retracted his earlier statement. "How can you believe such a person,?" said Brig Cheema.

The investigations are now increasingly focussed on finding out if Daniel is alive or not. "Nothing could be said about Daniel's fate unless something concrete comes out," sources said.

In response to a question about any specific leads, Brig Cheema said: "Sheikh Omar made at least 24 calls to India while in hiding." He said the prime suspect had named a few people and the authorities were now trying to trace them out.

"He has given some names but it is believed that he is trying to mislead the investigations," Brig Cheema said.

Brig Cheema, who is also keeping President General Musharraf informed about the case in the United States, said: "It is surprising the list of 20 people handed over to Pakistan by India does not mention Sheikh Omar despite his involvement in kidnapping and abduction cases there."

As sun set on another day, the enthusiasm of the authorities on the arrest of Sheikh Omar went down as they once again suspect the hand of the Indian intelligence agencies in the case.

As the Pakistan authorities are focussing on Indian connection to the case, the US authorities are becoming increasingly suspicious of renegade elements of an elite intelligence agency of the country having a clue to kidnapping.

Sources said the US authorities had asked for a list of officials who had worked in the Afghan cell of the intelligence agency during the past few years.

When contacted for official confirmation, the interior ministry officials said: "We are unaware of such a demand. The FBI has a direct liaison with ISI and if such a thing has happened directly on FBI-ISI channel, we do not know of it."

According to Dawn investigations, Khalid Khawaja, an ex-ISI official, who was involved in back-track diplomatic initiative with Taliban till the US bombings started on Oct 6, was interrogated by the police authorities in connection with the reporter's kidnapping.

"There was a midnight raid on my house by intelligence agency officials at 4am but I had left at 2am just two days before Mubarak Shah Gillani appeared before the SSP Rawalpindi," Khawaja said.

Khawaja, who retired from ISI in 1988, formed a movement by the name of Islamic Solidarity Movement and was arrested during 1995 on charges of dacoity and the intent to kill.

"The case was politically motivated as Benazir Bhutto wanted me to become an approver against Nawaz Sharif," Khawaja claimed.

In response to a question about his involvement with the Afghan war, Khawaja told Dawn that Mansur Ijaz, a lobbyist for Pakistan in the US and former CIA director James Woolsey were in contact with him for negotiations with the Taliban for release of hostages till Oct 6, the day when the US started bombing on Afghanistan.

Showing the exchange of his correspondence with Mansur Ijaz and James Woolsey, Khawaja claimed that he had good relations with Taliban. However, the official sources said Khawaja was not assigned any such role by the government.

Replying to a question about his meeting with Daniel Pearl, the ex-ISI operative, who also runs a business firm doing research and development for the Pakistan Navy, and is also involved in telecommunications and CNG business, said: "Danny first time contacted me from Bombay at the end of September by giving a reference of Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman involved in track-two diplomacy on Kashmir and Afghanistan."

Khawaja claimed that he introduced Mr Pearl to his contacts and arranged interviews with Taliban diplomats and other people.

Recalling his recent meetings with the kidnapped reporter, Khawaja said Daniel Pearl had became interested in Mubarak Shah Gillani during January.

"On January 6 or 7, Pearl called me to arrange an interview with Gillani which I instantly ruled out," Khawaja told Dawn.

He said after the refusal, Pearl did not contact him again but another intriguing visitor, Asra Nomani, an Indian American, established contacts with him through his wife. Khawaja claimed that Asra Nomani visited his house on a number of occasions but the last he heard from her was on the morning of Jan 24 before the morning prayers. "Asra told me about Danny's disappearance and sought help in recovering him."

Later, Khawaja said, her tone changed and she threatened to give the whole story to the police who were present with her. A police official talked to me and sought help in tracing Mubarik Shah Gillani.

"They did not consult me before going for the interview but it is surprising why they chose me to be the first person to be informed about Daniel's kidnapping," Khawaja said, questioning if Daniel Pearl and Asra Nomani had somehow crossed the danger point from where other journalists had chosen to retreat earlier.

Khawaja said Asra Nomani gave him the mobile phones of individuals they contacted for arranging the interview thinking that he knew them.

A conservative Muslim, Khawaja said he knew Mubarik Shah Gillani as spiritual leader who had a number of followers in the US. "It is a big plot to hand over Gillani to the US authorities," he said.

Brig Cheema told Dawn that Gillani was wanted by the US authorities and his name was on the list of terrorists wanted by the US.

Gillani is reported to have helped establish a chain of Islamic universities in the United States and Canada known as the Quranic Open Universities.

According to the Muslims of America Movement, the organizations that have been established by American Muslims under the guidance of Gillani were: Muslims of the Americas, Inc.; International Quranic Open Universities; Kashmiri-American Friendship Society; Binaat-un-Noor International, Inc. (American Muslim Women's Organization) and Zavia Book, USA.

Informed sources said the interest of Daniel Pearl and Farah Stockman of Boston Globe in tracing out Gillani had raised suspicions about their "professional interests."

The journalists were investigating things which were beyond the reach of FBI, a thing which was not liked by many who are pursuing their own agendas despite President Musharraf's strong directives.

According to Khawaja, he was being considered a suspect who led Daniel Pearl into trouble. Sharing the exchange of correspondence with the Newsweek,Khawaja said it was on the intervention of Mansur Ijaz that Newsweek toned down its article which was allegedly raising an accusing finger on him. Following is the text of the letter written by Gretel Kovach of Newsweek to Khalid Khawaja:

"If it is any consolation, you may have read in the e-mails I sent Mansoor that the Newsweek article would have been much stronger in pointing the finger at you as the person who led Danny into trouble. Thankfully I spoke with Mansoor and was able to offer a contrary account - that you refused Danny's request, and that others tricked him into thinking he could meet Gilani. Sadly it wasn't enough to completely overpower the Pakistani sources other Newsweek people had at the time, but it was something."

Daniel Pearl, it is learnt, was not the only journalist looking for Mubarik Shah Gillani. Farah Stockman of Boston Globedelivered a letter at the house of father of Mubarik Shah Gillani, which according to Khawaja's claim was handed over to him.

The contents of the letter, delivered for Gillani by Farah Stockman and which was later on delivered to Khalid Khawaja were:

"Dear Sir,

"I am a black American journalist from Boston Globe who has been following your case for some time. I have heard some rumours of recent accusation against you, and I wanted so much to reach you and hear your point of view, because that is the only way to know the truth. If you could oblige me by answering questions in a letter or on telephone (or even in person) I would not disclose the place where I have found you and would do my utmost to keep your identity secret. I was hoping to talk to you about whether or not you feel the US government has been unfair to call Al-Fuqra a criminal organization. I am also interested in your experience opening the eyes of so many Americans to Islam.

"Lastly, I have heard rumours that Richard Reid, a UK citizen who is accused of trying to hide a bomb in his shoes, was a follower of yours. Please can you answer these for me so that I can know the truth instead of believing what others say? I very much appreciate your consideration. Farah Stockman."

According to the ex-ISI operative, he told Farah Stockman that Mr Gillani had no connection with Richard Reid or of the sort and to assess his activities, she better meet his people in the States where he has a sizeable following. The group, mostly black, is known as Muslims of America and publishes Islamic Post from New York.

Sources said that Gillani sought Khawaja's help in dispelling the misperceptions of Farah Stockman.

Arguing the case of Gillani and others arrested in the case of Daniel Peal kidnapping, Khawaja told Dawn: "How can someone justify the agonies of the families who are being denied basic fundamental rights like my friend Gilani, his son and many others who have been and are being victimised."

Criticizing the hypocritical policies of the authorities, Khawaja said Gillani's wife was also an American citizen but she was denied all the fundamental rights just because she was black. "Dany and Mubarak Gilani both were innocent and both have been kidnapped, both have American wives, one is black and the other is white and see the difference in treatment of the case by the American media," he said.

The former ISI official is not the only one having links with the intelligence agencies who has raised suspicions about the role of renegade elements in the case.

Investigation by the authorities have revealed that a constable of the Karachi police special branch, Adeel, was working with a Jaish-i-Mohammad, a banned militant organization. Adeel had told the investigators to locate the powerful friends of Sheikh Omar if they wanted to recover Daniel Pearl, sources said.

Sheikh Omar did not raise any eyebrows until he was named a suspect in Daniel Pearl's kidnapping case. However, according to the Establishment, he was suspected of having strong Indian connections and the entire drama of Kandahar hijacking was created to launch agents of the Indian intelligence into Pakistan. That perhaps explains why the Indians did not give his name in the list of 20 terrorists wanted by it, a senior interior ministry official said.

Sheikh Omar, involved in the kidnapping of foreigners in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir, was imprisoned by Indian authorities in 1994. He was freed as part of a deal with hijackers of an Indian Airlines jet in Kandahar.

The sources said that another very mysterious turn which the case took was offering of funeral prayers in absentia for a militant known by the name of Arif, a person with whom Daniel sought a meeting. How, when and where the militant was killed and where his dead body is are some of the questions which remain unanswered.

According to the officials, the entire case appears to be a plot hatched by the Indians to embarrass President Musharraf on his visit to the US and provide the US authorities a chance to explore the underground linkages of the Pakistani intelligence apparatus.

[Pervez Nawaz]

Journalist Pearl Was Also An Israeli Citizen Says Israeli Media


WASHINGTON - We now learn that Daniel Pearl, the kidnapped and killed Wall Street Journal reporter, was an Israeli citizen. It seems he was reporting for years on extraordinarily controversial subjects for an extremely controversial pro-Israeli publication - but apparently neither he nor the publication ever revealed this fact to readers. What more may we learn next?
As usual, the courageous and tireless journalist who is such a credit to his profession, Robert Fisk, asks many of the necessary questions and points fingers where they deserve to be pointed. Fisk's article was written before the revelation today that Pearl was an Israeli. "Where did we go wrong" Fisk rightly asks...and gives some of the important answers.


PEARL'S FATHER: 'ISRAELI CONNECTION'
COULD HINDER INVESTIGATION
By Yossi Melman
Ha'aretz Daily
2-24-2

Professor Yehuda Pearl, father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter
Daniel Pearl, has told Ha'aretz that he fears that making public his son's
Israeli citizenship could adversely affect investigative efforts by Pakistani
police to apprehend the killers and track down the murdered reporter's body.

In a telephone conversation from his Los Angeles residence, Professor Pearl
expressed regret and anger over the revelation by the Israeli media of his
family's "Israeli connection." The U.S. media, which was aware of the
information, complied with the family's request not to make it public. The
American media was asked to comply with this request after information was
obtained that confirmed reports that the 38-year-old reporter was dead.

Professor Pearl went on to say that he had not viewed the videotape in
which his son's murder was documented and has no intention of doing so.
He was told of his son's death Thursday by U.S. government officials after
they had viewed the videotape and were convinced of its authenticity.

According to assessments presented to Professor Pearl, his son was killed
ten days after being kidnapped on January 23. The date of his death is based
on experts' viewing of the videotape and was determined according to the
length of Pearl's beard, as seen on the tape.

Pakistani police investigators said Saturday that Pearl's murderers never
meant to release him. The Pakistani police warned foreign organizations in
the country that they should be careful due to the fact that Pearl's kidnapping
may be part of a more far-reaching terrorist plot. They also reported that the
man who delivered the videotape documenting Pearl's murder was arrested
for questioning in Karachi, located in southern Pakistan.

The State Department said the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan had received
evidence Thursday that Pearl was dead. Spokesman Richard Boucher
provided no details on the evidence, although Pakistani authorities said that
the videotape indicated he had been murdered by the Islamic extremists who
kidnapped him a month ago.

Pearl, born in Princeton, New Jersey, died at the age of 38. He worked as a
reporter for the Wall Street Journal for twelve years. His last job was to
report from Afghanistan and Pakistan on the U.S. war against terror.

On Thursday, Fahad Naseem, one of three men accused of involvement in
the kidnapping, said Pearl was abducted because he was a Jew working
against Islam.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf vowed Friday to leave no stone
unturned in hunting the killers of Pearl and declared war on all terrorists in
Pakistan.

In a national television address on Friday night, Musharraf said all resources
would be thrown into finding the executioners of the Wall Street Journal
reporter.

"I can assure my countrymen that we will not leave any stone unturned to
bring all these people involved in this murder to justice and set an example of
them for other such people who may be thinking of such acts in the future,"
Musharraf declared, vowing to wipe out all extremist groups.

"I think our resolve increases with such acts to move more strongly against
all such terrorist people and those organizations which perpetrate such
terrorism. To move against them and liquidate them entirely from our
country," he said.



JOURNALISTS ARE NOW TARGETS -
BUT WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THIS?

By Robert Fisk
The Independent - London
2-23-2

The murder of Daniel Pearl of The Wall Street Journals was as revolting as
it was outrageous. But why was he killed? Because he was a Westerner, a
"Kaffir"? Because he was an American? Or because he was a journalist?
And if he was killed because he was a reporter what has happened to the
protection which we in our craft used to enjoy?

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, we can be seen as Kaffirs, as unbelievers. Our
faces, our hair, even our spectacles, mark us out as Westerners. The Muslim
cleric who wished to talk to me in an Afghan refugee village outside
Peshawar last October was stopped by a man who pointed at me and asked:
"Why are you taking this Kaffir into our mosque?'' Weeks later, a crowd of
Afghan refugees, grief-stricken at the slaughter of their relatives in a US
B-52 bomber air raid, tried to kill me because they thought I was an
American.

But over the past quarter century I have witnessed the slow, painful,
dangerous erosion of respect for our work. We used to risk our lives in wars
- we still do - but journalists were rarely deliberate targets. We were impartial
witnesses to conflict, often the only witnesses, the first writers of history.
Even the nastiest militias understood this. "Protect him, look after him, he is
a journalist,'' I recall a Palestinian guerrilla ordering his men when I entered
the burning Lebanese town of Bhamdoun in 1983.

But in Lebanon, in Algeria and then in Bosnia, the protection began to
disintegrate. Reporters in Beirut were taken hostage - the Associated Press's
Terry Anderson disappeared for almost seven years - while Algerian
journalists were hunted down and beheaded by Islamist groups throughout
the Nineties. Olivier Quemener, a French cameraman, was cruelly shot down
in the Casbah area of Algiers as his wounded colleague lay weeping by his
side. Pasting "TV" stickers on your car in Sarajevo was as much an
invitation to the Serb snipers above the city to shoot at journalists as it was a
protection.

Where did we go wrong? I suspect the rot started in Vietnam. Reporters
have identified themselves with armies for decades. In both World Wars,
journalists worked in uniform. Dropping behind enemy lines with US
commandos did not spare an AP reporter from a Nazi firing squad. But these
were countries in open conflict, reporters whose nations had officially
declared war. Wearing a uniform enabled journalists to claim the protection
of the Geneva Convention; in civilian clothes they could be shot as spies. It
was in Vietnam that reporters started wearing uniforms and carrying
weapons - and shooting those weapons at America's enemies - even though
their country was not officially at war and even when they could have
carried out their duties without wearing soldiers' clothes. In Vietnam,
reporters were murdered because they were reporters.

This odd habit of journalists to be part of the story, to play an almost
theatrical role in wars, slowly took hold. When the Palestinians evacuated
Beirut in 1982, I noticed that several French reporters were wearing
Palestiniankuffiah scarves. Israeli reporters turned up in occupied southern
Lebanon with pistols. Then in the 1991 Gulf war, American and British
television reporters started dressing up in military costumes, appearing on
screen - complete with helmets and military camouflage fatigues - as if they
were members of the 82nd Airborne or the Hussars. One American
journalist even arrived in boots camouflaged with painted leaves although a
glance at any desert suggests that this would not have served much purpose.
In the Kurdish flight into the mountains of northern Iraq more reporters
could be found wearing Kurdish clothes. In Pakistan and Afghanistan last
year, the same phenomenon occurred, Reporters in Peshawar could be seen
wearing Pushtun hats. Why? No one could ever supply me with an
explanation. What on earth was CNN's Walter Rodgers doing in US Marine
costume at the American camp outside Kandahar? Mercifully, someone told
him to take it off after his first broadcast. Then Geraldo Rivera of Fox News
arrived in Jalalabad with a gun. He fully intended, he said, to kill Osama bin
Laden. It was the last straw. The reporter had now become combatant.

Perhaps we no longer care about our profession. Maybe we're all to quick to
demean our own jobs, to sneer at each other, to adopt the ridiculous title of
"hacks" when we should regard the job as foreign correspondent as a decent,
honourable profession. I was astounded last December when an American
newspaper headline announced that I had deserved the beating I received at
the hands of that Afghan crowd. I had almost died but the article, by Mark
Steyn, carried a headline that a "multiculturalist (me) gets his due''. My sin,
of course, was to explain that the crowd had lost relatives in America's B-52
raids, that I would have done the same in their place. That shameful,
unethical headline, I should add, appeared in Daniel Pearl's own newspaper,
The Wall Street Journal.

Can we do better? I think so. It's not that reporters in military costume -
Rodgers in his silly Marine helmet, Rivera clowning around with a gun, or
even me in my gas cape a decade ago - helped to kill Daniel Pearl. He was
murdered by vicious men. But we are all of us - dressing up in combatant's
clothes or adopting the national dress of people - helping to erode the shield
of neutrality and decency which saved our lives in the past. If we don't stop
now, how can we protest when next our colleagues are seized by ruthless
men who claim we are spies?




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[H Khan]

By Danielle Haas


JERUSALEM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Israelis claimed murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl as one of their own on Sunday, amid revelations that his parents were Israelis and that he said on videotape that he was a Jew just before he was killed.

Israeli newspapers published interviews with Pearl's grandmother in Tel Aviv and his father in the United States, alongside commentary focusing on the Wall Street Journal reporter's Israeli connection and Jewish lineage.

Israel considers anyone with at least one Israeli parent to be a citizen. Pearl's mother and father left Israel some 40 years ago and settled in the United States.

His father, Yehuda, was quoted by Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper as saying his 38-year-old son -- who had visited the Jewish state but never lived there -- considered himself an American, not an Israeli.

"His parents were Israeli but he was not Israeli. He came to Israel a few times to be with his grandmother and take part in celebrations," the slain reporter's grandmother, Tova Pearl, told Maariv newspaper.

"And even if he had been an Israeli, it's also not a crime for which he needed to die."

Tova Pearl declined comment when contacted by Reuters.

Her grandson disappeared last month in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, as he tried to contact Islamic radical groups.

Kidnappers styling themselves the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty first accused the journalist of spying for the CIA and later said he had been working for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.

Israeli officials dismissed the claims Pearl was a spy as "complete rubbish." The Wall Street Journal also denied them.

Pakistani officials have said that in a videotape showing Pearl's murder the reporter said he was a Jew and that his father was a Jew just before he was killed.

Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israeli branch of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre, said it made his "skin crawl to think because a person is born a Jew, it makes him a candidate to be executed."

"The obvious thing that comes to mind when the same thing happened was during the Holocaust," he said, referring to the Nazi slaughter of more than six million Jews in the 1940s.

10:24 02-24-02

[afridi]

This makes for some interesting reading especially considering the "events" that led to his release and now his "well timed" kidnap/murder.

Who exactly did he make a deal with when he was in prison in back then ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1806000/1806001.stm

[H Khan]

KARACHI, March 2 (Reuters) - The wife of the prime suspect in the kidnapping of murdered U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl asked a Pakistani court to block the possible extradition of her husband, a court official said on Saturday.

The official said Saadia Omar Sheikh, wife of suspected kidnap ringleader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, filed the petition on Friday at the provincial Sindh High Court.

"The petition asked the court to forestall the expected extradition of Sheikh Omar to the United States," the official added.

The United States has requested that Sheikh Omar be extradited, either under a 1931 treaty or by a simpler process adopted in previous cases between the two countries.

But the Pakistani government has said that it wants to complete Sheikh Omar's trial procedures in Pakistan before it agrees to hand him over to Washington.

Authorities were worried about a possible backlash from Islamic militant groups if they surrender Sheikh Omar, a government official said earlier in the week.

Sheikh Omar was arrested on February 12 and confessed in a Karchi court to masterminding Pearl's kidnapping. The abduction was to protest Pakistan's support for the U.S. war against terrorism and a crackdown on Islamic militancy.

Pearl, 38, was kidnapped on January 23 in Karachi while reporting on Islamic militants.

On February 21, Pakistani and U.S. officials received a gruesome videotape confirming Pearl's death. His body has yet to be found and it is unclear where or when he was killed.

The court official said the Sindh High Court set March 5 for hearing the petition.

Sheikh Omar has been remanded in police custody until March 12, when he is expected to next appear in court in Karachi.

02:05 03-02-02

[Awaisi]

http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=5&date1=3/11/2002