Pakistan bank denies Pearl widow's terror allegations
AFX News Limited
07.19.07, 8:13 AM ET
forbes.com
KARACHI (Thomson Financial) - A key Pakistan bank Thursday denied allegations by the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl that it was involved in providing financial services to Al-Qaeda and others.
Mariane Pearl filed a lawsuit in New York Wednesday against 23 individuals and organizations over the 2002 abduction and murder of her husband in Karachi.
The lawsuit notably names Al-Qaeda, alleged Al-Qaeda kingpin Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- who claimed responsibility for beheading Pearl and is now in US custody -- and Pakistan's Habib Bank among the defendants.
Habib Bank, which was privatized in February 2004 with management control given to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, denied the allegations.
'These allegations are baseless. Habib Bank is a professional bank and we have never been involved in any terrorism,' Zafar Aziz Osmani, senior executive vice-president of Habib Bank, told Agence France-Presse.
'I firmly deny all these allegations. In 2002, the bank was owned by the government of Pakistan, which cannot be involved in such activities,' he said.
Osmani said the allegation was not substantiated by any evidence.
'The allegations are not against one branch in New York, but against the bank as an institution and without any evidence,' Osmani said.
Pearl worked as the South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal when he was taken hostage in early 2002. A videotape showing his beheading was later distributed on the Internet.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating laws including the Anti-Terrorism Act and Torture Victim Protection Act.
It says they were involved in Pearl's abduction and killing by providing financial or logistical support in the form of training, shelter, weapons, transportation, food, communications, equipment or financial services.
The complaint names extremist groups Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Al-Qaeda as being implicated and accuses Islamic charities Al Rashid Trust and Al Akhtar Trust International of financing the defendants through accounts held at Habib Bank.
'I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record,' Pearl (Mariane) said in a statement.
'This process allows us to delve deeper into the investigation, and to bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture and murder,' she said.
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