DANIEL PEARL has been killed by his kidnappers, The Wall Street Journal said. The paper based its statement on recent reports from the U.S. State Department and Pakistani police
This is an earlier report:
Militant Says Pearl Was Abducted
Because He Is 'Anti-Islam,' Jewish
Associated Press
KARACHI, Pakistan -- An Islamic militant charged in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told a judge Thursday that the journalist was seized because he was "anti-Islam and a Jew," his lawyer said.
In a closed-door deposition, Fahad Naseem, 21 years old, admitted sending e-mails announcing Mr. Pearl's kidnapping on orders of British-born suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, according to defense attorney Khawaja Naveed Ahmed.
Mr. Naseem was one of three people arrested for sending the e-mails announcing Mr. Pearl's Jan. 23 abduction, which included photos of him in captivity. Mr. Naseem was brought to court with his head covered by a hood and surrounded by three dozen heavily armed policemen.
Several vehicles mounted by machine guns parked outside the court building, and armed police patrolled the rooftops of this congested neighborhood in this southern port city, Pakistan's largest.
Mr. Naseem gave his statement to the judge in a closed-door session which excluded his lawyer. The lawyer told reporters what his client had said based on the official transcript, which wasn't made available to reporters. Mr. Naseem was ordered jailed pending trial.
Officials cleared out the entire floor where the deposition hearing took place.
According to the lawyer, Mr. Naseem told the judge that on Jan. 21 he was taken to a house he had never visited by his cousin Salman Saqib, a co-defendant in the case. At the house, Mr. Naseem said Mr. Saeed gave him money to purchase a camera and that he was later given a scanner to send e-mails, Mr. Naveed said. According to the lawyer, Mr. Naseem said his cousin told him there were plans to kidnap someone who is "anti-Islam and a Jew."
In an e-mail sent Jan. 30, the kidnappers accused Mr. Pearl of being an agent of the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad.
The Wall Street Journal and Israel have denied the allegation.
A spokesman for Dow Jones & Co, which publishes the Journal, reiterated Thursday that Mr. Pearl was "a reporter -- nothing more and nothing less."
"Far from being anti-Islam, Danny has conveyed news from the Islamic world with empathy and accuracy," the spokesman said. "We remain hopeful and are confident that he is still alive."
Mr. Naseem claimed that he had never met Mr. Pearl personally, Mr. Naveed said. Mr. Saeed appeared in court last week and admitted to his role in the kidnapping. He also told the judge he believed Mr. Pearl was dead.
Mr. Pearl, the Journal's South Asian bureau chief, was abducted while on a reporting assignment.
Four days later, an e-mail sent to Pakistani and international media showed photos of the reporter in captivity -- including one with a gun pointed to his head -- and demanded that the U.S. repatriate Pakistanis captured in Afghanistan who are being held at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A second e-mail, sent Jan. 30, said the 38-year-old reporter would be killed in 24 hours. That was the last known message from his captors, and the question of whether Mr. Pearl is alive remains unanswered.
Investigators traced the e-mails to Mr. Naseem, who they said had the messages stored on his laptop computer.
Also arrested and accused of sending the e-mails were Sheikh Mohammed Adeel, a constable with the police department's special branch, and Mr. Saqib, the cousin. Both are thought to have links to an extremist group called Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Mr. Saeed, the alleged mastermind, publicly admitted to the kidnapping in a court appearance last week, but that confession may not be enough to convict him because he confessed without being sworn in and without the presence of a court stenographer, the chief prosecutor said.
Copyright © 2002 Associated Press
Updated February 21, 2002 2:11 p.m. EST |
