India - Pakistan Crisis

Suspect: Pearl kidnap was a warning By Kamran Khan and Molly Moore in 2/17 Washington Post

Top 196. Mar 19, 2002 6:39 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Pak Censorship by Intimidation

More on Pak Censorship by Intimidation

articles posted above....first the article by Kamran Khan about Omar Saeed that caused the ISI to demand that he be fired (a similar article was printed in a Pakistani newspaper):

KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb. 17 — A suspect in the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told police the kidnapping was a “warning shot” to the Pakistani president for his crackdown on militant Islamic groups, officials familiar with the investigation said today.

Saeed said that three recent deadly attacks in India were intended to undercut Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to curb the activities of extremist groups in response to pressure from the United States.

SHEIK OMAR SAEED told interrogators that three recent deadly attacks in India were also intended to undercut Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to curb the activities of extremist groups in response to pressure from the United States, police officials said.

Saeed said attacks outside the U.S. cultural center in Calcutta, the Indian Parliament in New Delhi and a legislative assembly in Kashmir were aimed at provoking India into taking action against Pakistan. Extremist organizers — some with ties to Saeed — hoped Musharraf would be forced to back away from his public stand against militant activities, Saeed told police.

Saeed is affiliated with the Jaish-i-Muhammad militant group fighting in the disputed Himalayan border region of Kashmir. Police officials said they could not verify any connection between Saeed’s organization and supporters and the attacks in India. But authorities said he provided detailed information about the incidents and some of the perpetrators.

That information, plus Saeed’s confession in court last week that he had helped plan Pearl’s abduction, have raised troubling new questions for Pakistani and U.S. law enforcement officials investigating the Pearl case, authorities from both countries said.

SECRET DETENTION

Saeed was detained for a week by non-police Pakistani authorities before the government acknowledged he was being held and turned him over to Sindh state police, officials said.

U.S. and Pakistani police investigators said the secret detention of Saeed casts doubt on his statements and any statements Pakistani authorities may have persuaded him to give, according to officials close to the investigation.

Some Pakistani security officials said they believed Saeed was lying about his role in the Indian terrorist attacks to boost his image among extremist followers. Others said the details he provided seemed to verify some of his claims.

During the past several days of interrogation, police said, Saeed told them that he had traveled to Afghanistan “a few days after September 11” to meet Osama bin Laden. Saeed’s ties with several Arab associates of bin Laden have been described by other suspects questioned in the Pearl case, police said. Police said Saeed reportedly served as a guerrilla warfare instructor at training facilities in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule.

Police also said Saeed provided them with unsolicited details about his relationship with Aftab Ansari (aka Farhan Malik), the alleged gangster and chief suspect in the shooting outside the U.S. cultural center in Calcutta in which five policemen died. Saeed said he met Ansari while the two men were jailed in New Delhi’s Tihar prison.

Authorities said Saeed offered police the identities of the Kashmiri militants who stormed the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13. Saeed also said the suicide bomber who attacked the state parliament building in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on Oct. 1 was “more than a brother to me,” one police official said.

Moore reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.

There's Much More To Daniel Pearl's Murder Than Meets the Eye by By Nafisa Hoodbhoy in 3/10 Washington Post

(excerpt)

I don't know how much Pearl found out. But I know full well how likely journalists are to become the targets of the intelligence agencies. I found out the hard way in September 1991. It had been only two years since the country had returned to democracy and a free press was only barely tolerated by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. I began writing about the tactics his government was using to coerce opposition politicians to change their loyalties and indict their leader, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

My investigative reports led me into a maze of competing intelligence agencies. One day in late September, we journalists in Karachi rallied against the stabbing of Kamran Khan, one of the reporters under fire at the News, who is known for using sources among the intelligence agencies and who also works as a special correspondent for The Washington Post.

That night, as I reached home, I saw two men -- knives glinting in their hands -- approaching my car. Sensing danger, I raced back to the office. Coming after a spate of attacks on journalists, the incident generated new protests -- with rallies and demonstrations by media organizations throughout the country culminating in newspapers suspending publication for one day.

Jeepers - this is getting to be a real soapbox! Don't mean for my posts to be a tirade against Pakistan. Please someone present Pakistan's side of the story. Funny thing is - have been meeting several moderate Pak Muslims in Yahoo chat that are very supportive of the Pak gov and of Mushariff....and some say that Pak is getting a bad rap from foreign propaganda! Am talking with them .... trying to get their side of the story.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Broader Campaign Suspected in Church Attack

Top 197. Mar 19, 2002 7:33 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Musharraf's problems

In response to message posted by BPyles:

Hmmm - Speaking of Kamran Khan - his take on the Islamabad Church attack in 3/19 Washington Post:

Banned Pakistani Militant Groups May Be Working Together, Authorities Say

By Kamran Khan and Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 19, 2002; Page A15

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 18 -- Sunday's grenade attack on a Protestant church here may have been part of a broader campaign of violence being coordinated by a handful of banned Islamic militant groups, according to police and security sources.

Police said today that they believe elements from at least five militant groups recently banned by Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, are coordinating their efforts to weaken Musharraf's grip on power and may be planning additional violent attacks.

Investigators probing Sunday's attack said today that they had few clues about the identity of the man who burst into Islamabad's Protestant International Church and killed five people, including two Americans, with hand grenades. Police said they were uncertain whether one victim, who has not been identified, was a worshiper or the attacker himself, who might have been on a suicide mission.

A spate of recent incidents -- including the January kidnapping and subsequent slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, recent attacks on a Shiite Muslim mosque and another church, and the killings of several Shiite doctors in the southern port city of Karachi -- appear to be part of a well-planned destabilization campaign, security officials said.

"For investigators of the Pearl murder case or the sectarian murders in Karachi, the church shooting didn't come as a surprise," said a provincial police official in Karachi.

The incidents all followed Musharraf's pledge in January to free Pakistan from religious militancy. Musharraf, who has angered radical Pakistani Muslims by supporting the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, banned five groups: Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Sipah-i-Sahaba, the Tehrik-i-Jafria party and Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammedi. He had earlier banned two other groups.

"In about two months, since President Musharraf ordered the crackdown against religious extremism in January, we have seen the Daniel Pearl case, targeted killing of at least 45 Shiites in separate cases of sectarian terrorism, and now the church bombing in Islamabad's diplomatic quarters," a senior security official said.

Five of the Sunni Muslim groups share what investigators called strong anti-American and anti-Musharraf views. Investigators said they believed the Sunni groups could claim as many as 5,000 adherents with some training in guerrilla warfare. While the groups have distinct organizations at the top, their rank-and-file activists are believed to be sharing knowledge and expertise, sources said.

The church attacked Sunday was close to the fortified U.S. Embassy compound and known to be frequented by Americans, indications that the violence could be traced to terrorists angered by Musharraf's pro-Western policies, investigators said. If so, they said, the groups behind the attack now might be picking "soft targets" -- churches, schools, restaurants or other places where Americans here gather.

Police are operating on the theory that only one attacker was involved, said Nasir Khan Durrani, the capital's senior police superintendent. He said some witnesses reported seeing two men, but actually may have seen the same assailant enter the church twice, throwing grenades at the congregation from two directions. "The majority of witnesses say they saw one person," he said.

The two American victims were an embassy employee, Barbara Green, and her daughter Kristen Wormsley, 17, a senior at the American School in Islamabad. Today the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, Christina B. Rocca, flew here from India to meet with embassy officials about the attack and to accompany the two bodies back to the United States.

One victim's mutilated body remained unidentified and unclaimed. Durrani said police were investigating whether it was the corpse of the assailant, who had entered the church during the sermon.

Durrani said police had contacted the United Nations and various foreign agencies based in Islamabad, but so far none has reported anyone missing. He said the victim's race was also unclear because of the nature of his injuries.

"The face is not very identifiable," he said. "We're working on him. No one has claimed his body."

Some witnesses said the unidentified victim may have been an African or of African descent. One witness in the church, a German who escaped injury, said she recalled seeing "an African gentleman" torn apart by the blast. But there were other reports that the unidentified corpse was that of a Pakistani.

The possibility that the body was the assailant's raised the notion that the church attack was a suicide mission, a tactic that Islamic militants in South Asia have rarely -- if ever -- employed against Westerners.

Durrani said Pakistani police had asked the FBI to assist with forensics and other aspects of the probe. "We are asking, and they are offering," Durrani said in a telephone interview. He said no arrests had been made but that police were questioning several people who may have information about the attack.

Even as police and security officials said they were bracing for more attacks by the groups, the Foreign Ministry today was at pains to try to assure foreigners that they are safe in Pakistan -- even while acknowledging that the attack amounted to a serious security lapse in a section of the city supposedly well-guarded.

At a briefing this afternoon, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "The government of Pakistan has taken all the possible measures for security. It is unfortunate that this incident has taken place, but the government of Pakistan will continue to provide maximum security for the foreigners residing in Pakistan."

He also said a task force had been set up and the government had "taken measures to investigate what went wrong."

Khan reported from Karachi.

......Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Punishment For Telling The Truth - A Tale of Vendetta & Intimidation

Top 198. Mar 19, 2002 7:56 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Pak Censorship by Intimidation

More on Pak Censorship by Intimidation

from International The News a Pak Online Newspaper at http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Inside the Ring - The Pentagon Report by Bill Gertz & Rowan Scarborough

Top 199. Mar 20, 2002 10:00 AM

» JenL_2 - Mohd Afroze Abdul Razzak

Amazing how search engines can take you off on a tangent! Friday a blurb on the radio said that Microsoft & Boeing in WA state are being targeted by the al Qaeda - but couldn't find the source on the net.....ah here it is in 3/15 Gertzfile.com:

(excerpt)

Microsoft targeted

U.S. intelligence officials said Islamic terrorists have picked economic-warfare targets inside the United States. This includes intelligence that al Qaeda terrorists plan to attack Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

The data were among information found during military operations inside Afghanistan.

Microsoft's sprawling "campus" is located west of Seattle and includes 47 buildings with a combined 5.3 million square feet of office space. The company's revenue last year was $25.3 billion.

"This would clearly be economic warfare" by al Qaeda terrorists, said one official familiar with reports of the threats.

Microsoft spokesman Michael Yaeger had no immediate comment on the threat.

Other targets in the Seattle area include facilities of the defense contractor Boeing Co., the Navy's Bangor submarine base and the Space Needle.

Jeepers - there were the reports in Jan about documents found in Afghanistan indicating that several American buildings were possibly being targeted by al Qaida, including some in WA ...

http://english.planetarabia.com/content/...

...but this report sounds like a new info was found...Oh Oh! That sent me off searching for more info.... came across articles about suspected al Qaeda operative Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak arrested in India Oct. 2. Hadn't heard about him before.... have you Steven, Betty or anyone? The story is very bizarre and can't find any updates. Here are a couple sources:

Suspect Claims Al Qaeda Hacked Microsoft - Expert

By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A.,
17 Dec 2001, 2:08 PM CST

A suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network claimed that Islamic militants infiltrated Microsoft and sabotaged the company's Windows XP operating system, according to a source close to Indian police.

Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, arrested by Mumbai (Bombay) police Oct. 2, has admitted to helping plot terrorist attacks in India, Britain and Australia, India's Hindustan Times newspaper reported Saturday.

During interrogation, Afroze, 25, also claimed that a member or members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, posing as computer programmers, were able to gain employment at Microsoft and attempted to plant "trojans, trapdoors, and bugs in Windows XP," according to Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, a New Delhi information systems and telecommunication consultant.

Prasad, moderator of an Internet mailing list on south Asia security and information warfare, told Newsbytes that Afroze made the claims in a police confession.

Officials in the Mumbai police commissioner's office were not immediately available for comment.

Afroze has told Indian authorities that he was part of a team of Al Qaeda terrorists that planned to hijack an aircraft in London on Sept. 11 and crash it into the British House of Commons or into London's Tower Bridge, according to the Hindustan Times, which obtained parts of Afroze's confession.

British intelligence officials have dismissed the claims, according to a report last week in the Guardian, a British newspaper.

A defense attorney hired by Afroze's father, a tailor by profession, reportedly asked the court to allow Afroze to receive a psychiatric examination but was rejected.

Afroze, who is scheduled to provide a formal confession before a Mumbai court on Tuesday, told the magistrate Friday that he does not wish legal representation and is mentally sound, according to the Times of India.

Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said Afroze's claims about the company were "bizarre and unsubstantiated and should be treated skeptically."

According to Desler, Microsoft has rigorous processes in place during the development of Windows to ensure the security and integrity of source code.

Microsoft launched Windows XP in late October. While the company has already issued security patches for the software, no evidence of malicious code in the operating system has been reported.

Under interrogation, Afroze also warned Mumbai police that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on India's parliament complex in New Delhi, the Hindustan Times reported.

On Thursday, terrorists stormed the Indian Parliament with grenades and guns, killing seven people and injuring at least 20. The five attackers were killed in the ensuing battle with security forces, according to The Washington Post.

Afroze also told investigators that the team planned a similar attack on Rialto Towers, the tallest building in Australia, according to Australia's Herald Sun newspaper.

Afroze, who hails from a poor section of Mumbai, reportedly received training as a pilot in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. No information on his technical education was immediately available.

The Times of India reported last week that "official sources" believe Afroze is "very close" to Al Qaeda but that authorities find some of his claims inconsistent and "too theatrical to believe."

Afroze had links with IC-814 hijackers

Chandan Nandy
New Delhi, December 15

As the Mumbai Police and intelligence agencies examine the statements made during interrogation by Mohammad Afroze Abdul Razzak, the alleged SIMI activist linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, a clear connection appears to be emerging between him and at least two of the five hijackers of the IC-814.

Parts of Afroze’s interrogation report, accessed by the Hindustan Times, say he often used to meet Shahid Akhtar and Zahoor Ahmed Mistry at the Al-Taqwa mosque attached to the Werribee Islamic Centre in Victoria, Australia.

Akhtar and Mistry were named in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar.

Afroze, the 25-year-old son of a ‘poor tailor’ from Cheetah Camp in Mumbai's Trombay area, was arrested with his elder brother Farooq on the night of October 2.

He disclosed during interrogation that he came in contact with Akhtar and Mistry in 1997 when he first visited Australia.

The three, with 28 other youth that the Al-Qaeda had picked to undergo pilot training courses at the Royal Victoria Aero Club, would often meet at the Al-Taqwa mosque. They took orders from Maulana Mansoor Illyas who ran the Werribee Islamic Centre.

During interrogations, Afroze claimed that he underwent commercial pilot's training with Akhtar and Mistry at the Tyler International School of Aviation in Texas in 1999. This was in the run up to the IC-814 hijack on December 24.

In May last year, Afroze and three others met Maulana Illyas in Hong Kong where the plan to attack the British House of Commons was ‘probably’ finalised.

It was in July this year that Afroze was sent for another aviation training course at the Cabair College of Air Training at Cranfield airport near Bedfordshire. On September 10, his group (of five) had valid tickets on the Manchester-London early morning flight which, according to the Al-Qaeda plan, was to hit the British Parliament.

Afroze has said that the conspirators had planned to form suicide squad groups of trained pilots. Each group was to hijack passenger aircraft in the US, UK, Australia and India and then ram them into chosen targets.

Sheesh - how come we haven't heard anymore about this guy!....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 200. Mar 20, 2002 2:52 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Mohd Afroze Abdul Razzak

more on Mohammed Afroze from Times of India:

UK businessman funded Afroze’s pilot training: Police

SOMIT SEN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2002 1:09:26 AM ]

MUMBAI: During his recent visit to London in connection with the Mohammed Afroze case, police commissioner M.N. Singh ques-tioned British businessman Mubarak Mussalman, whom he suspects to be a key conspirator in the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11 last year.

Mr Singh alleged that Mubarak had provided financial and logisti-cal support to terrorists involved in the WTC attack and those report-edly planning to blow up the British parliament in London and Rolta Towers in Melbourne. “His interrogation was signifi-cant as we are certain that he has funded Afroze’s pilot training in Australia and the US and also his stay in London,’’ he alleged.

However, it is not clear why Mubarak has not been arrested so far by the British police. Incidentally, Mr Singh questioned him in the presence of London police officials.

The city police has accused Afroze of being a member of a ter-rorist squad which had planned to hijack a plane at Heathrow airport and crash it into British parliament on September 11.

Sources said that between 1997 and 2001, Afroze had received money to the tune of Rs 36 lakhs. The money was allegedly funded by Mubarak. “My team, comprising deputy commissioner Pradeep Sawant and senior inspector Dilip Patil, located Mubarak’s residence in London and took the help of the local police in questioning him,’’ Mr Singh said. But Mubarak denied his involvement with Afroze during the hour-long questioning. He said he also visited Cab Air, the flying school in London where Afroze had enrolled his name for a flight-training course in 1999.

The flight instructors and school staff were questioned and their statements were recorded. The team led by Mr Singh also visited the international school of aviation at Tyler in Texas. Afroze had reportedly enrolled himself for a course in flying at this school in 1998. “When Afroze was at Tyler, a Pakistani national, Shahid Akhtar alias Sandy, was overseeing his training,’’ he said. “Sandy had not enrolled for the course but visited the school regularly.’’

“Sandy, who is now absconding, was also involved in the hijack of Indian Airlines aircraft IC-814 on December 24, 1999. His involve-ment in the WTC attack has been confirmed during inquiries,’’ he said. Another person, Nawaz Al Hazmi, an alleged Al Qaida opera-tive, was also undergoing training at Tyler at about the same time. “He was involved in the attack on the WTC on September 11.

He was travelling in one of the planes which crashed into the building and was killed,’’ Mr Singh said. Al Hazmi was not a reg-ular student at Tyler, but he went there occasionally and hired planes. The city police suspect he was in touch with Afroze. Mr Singh and his team met several other persons, including attorneys, sherrifs, police and FBI officials in Washington.

The most significant meeting was that with state department assistant secretary David Carpenter, who deals with anti-terrorism in the U.S. “Whatever Afroze told us has been corroborated by us,’’ he said. Incidentally, the police suspect that he is the only Indian involved in the Al Qaida conspiracy. “The U.S. newspapers had published photo-graphs of suspects in the September 11 attack.

Afroze has recognised eight of them. He has provided names of several other associates, who belong to Middle Eastern countries.’’ The police refused to disclose the names. (The police teams from London and Melbourne which had come to Mumbai to question Afroze were not permitted by the state govern-ment to meet him.) Mr Singh said, “Afroze’s confession has not only been recorded by us and the mag-istrate, but we have also carried out a lie-detector test, which showed that he was telling the truth.’’

Afroze’s judicial custody extended

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002 12:19:52 AM ]

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Monday extended till March 26 the judicial custody of alleged al-Qaeda operative Mohammed Afroze (26), who was recently booked under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (Poto).

He has been accused of planning to blow up the British parliament, among others.

Afroze was produced before the sessions court since a special court to try Poto cases is still to be set up.

Chief public prosecutor Rohini Salian said the law provides for the sessions court to exercise its jurisdiction in the matter till such time a special court is set up.

Afroze was produced before additional principal judge R.R. Vachha, since principal sessions judge P.B. Gaikwad was not present.

The judge heard the remand application to extend Afroze’s judicial custody. The police have applied seven sections of Poto against Afroze.

The sections include 3(1)(a), which seeks to punish whoever commits any act which is likely to cause or causes death or injury to life or destroys property or essential services or damages equipment meant for India’s defence, with an intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India or to strike terror among people.

Sections 5 and 6 of Poto invoked against Afroze seek to punish a person who is a member of a terrorist gang or terrorist organisation and who knowingly holds property derived from commission of a terrorist act.

The maximum punishment under these sections is life imprisonment or fine upto Rs 10 lakh or both. He is also booked for offences relating to fund raising for a terrorist organisation.

Last Friday, Afroze, who has also been charged with conspiring to conduct terrorist activities in foreign countries, had applied for a bail in the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate, V.P. Taware.

However, now the prosecution is not sure whether the magistrate can decide the bail application.

so we have this connection to the WTC hi-jackers:

Another person, Nawaz Al Hazmi, an alleged Al Qaida opera-tive, was also undergoing training at Tyler at about the same time. “He was involved in the attack on the WTC on September 11.

Nawaz Al Hazmi was one of two 9/11 hi-jackers that attended an al Qaeda meeting in Malaysia in Jan 2000. Posted to the "America at War" thread:

Intelligence sources say that in January 2000, Hambali was videotaped meeting in Malaysia with two of the alleged September 11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi. A third man, Zacarias Moussaoui, now facing terrorism-related charges in the United States, met with Hambali's aide later that year.
http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

So these latest reports corroborate the earlier bizarre reports on Mohammed Afroze. And what about Mubarak Mussalman - have we heard about him before - and why is he still living freely in the UK? And what about Shahid Akhtar alias Sandy? Wonder where he's absconded to?.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 201. Mar 20, 2002 4:03 PM

» BPyles - Razzak

Jen: That's a lot of info. Will have to confess that I do not recall seeing any of it before. Do have a vague recollection about someone who said he worked for Microsoft and sabotaged the XP OS but not enough to remember his name. Notice the date is 12-17 which was just before Christmas and did not keep up with things as well as before and after.

UK - they do seem to be a haven for those who want to wait it out. This is not first I have read of wanted people being there and still out of jail.

Am going to re-read it all, slower this time. Thanks.

-- posted by BPyles

Top 202. Mar 20, 2002 7:00 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Daniel Pearl

In response to message posted by BPyles:

Interview with Daniel Pearl's wife at 3/18 PBS.org - A NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript:

MARIANE PEARL

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 203. Mar 20, 2002 7:44 PM

» Steven_Russell - Re: Re: Mohd Afroze Abdul Razzak

In response to message posted by JenL_2:

And what about Shahid Akhtar alias Sandy? Wonder where he's absconded to?.....Jen

-------------------------------------------------

Where else? Safe and warm at home in Pakistan, where our good new "friend" Musharraf has refused to turn him over to India:

11 Shahid Akhtar Sayed ---------------------- at large in Karachi as of January 24, 2002; wanted by the government of India for his alleged involvement in the hijacking of Indian Airliner IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999
On India's top 20 list. An associate of Maulana Masood Azhar and allegedly one of the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to Delhi in December 1999 which led to the release of Azhar and two others. He is a member of Jaish-i-Mohammad and is wanted for hijacking, kidnapping and murder.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

Top 204. Mar 22, 2002 8:18 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Daniel Pearl case

More on the Daniel Pearl case from 3/22 MSNBC.com:

11 suspects indicted in Pearl case

Four face death penalty in kidnap-murder
of U.S. reporter

MSNBC NEWS SERVICES

March 22 — The chief prosecutor in the case of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl presented charges Friday against the main suspect and 10 accomplices, including seven who remain at large.

THE INDICTMENT charges Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others with murder, kidnapping and terrorism, chief prosecutor Raja Quereshi said. A trial is set to begin March 29, after a judge reviews the evidence.

“We have not found the body, but it will not affect the case,” Quereshi told The Associated Press. “There is other evidence which is sufficient for his conviction.”

“All the four accused have been charged with kidnapping for ransom, murder and terrorism,” Quereshi told reporters outside the courtroom in Karachi. “These charges carry a normal sentence of death.”

Seven other suspects, who remain at large, also were named in the prosecutor’s indictment. It was not immediately clear what charges they faced.

The case against Saeed relies heavily on the testimony of taxi driver Nasir Abbas, who told police he drove Pearl to a restaurant and saw him shake hands with Saeed, a British-educated Islamic militant, before getting into a car with him. Other evidence includes confessions from two of the accomplices as well as e-mails that included photographs of Pearl in captivity.

The three alleged accomplices - Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Mohammed Adeel and Salman Saqib - were arrested Jan. 30 and have been linked to e-mails announcing Pearl’s death. Adeel and Saeed appeared in court Friday; Naseem and Saqib were not present.

Their lawyer, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, said Thursday that his clients would seek to retract their confessions.

“The earlier confession ... had been extracted under coercion,” he said. “They were tortured.”

Pearl, The Wall Street Journal’s South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped in Karachi on Jan. 23 while attempting to get an interview with a prominent figure in Pakistan’s Islamic movement. A group known as “The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty” sent an e-mail about Pearl’s abduction, together with a picture of him in chains.

Last month, a videotape received by the U.S. Consulate in Karachi confirmed Pearl had been slain.

A federal grand jury in New Jersey has indicted Saeed on charges of conspiring to take Pearl hostage and then kidnapping him. Since the kidnapping resulted Pearl’s death, Saeed could face the death penalty if brought to the United States and convicted.

Pakistan has insisted its investigation must be completed before it considers extraditing Saeed to face charges in the United States.

Saeed admitted his role in the kidnapping in court Feb. 14 but later recanted. His statement is inadmissible in court because it was not made under oath.

Naseem confessed and said Saeed told him three days before the kidnapping that he planned to abduct someone who is “anti-Islam and a Jew.”

Police are looking for several other suspects, including Amjad Hussain Faruqi, the man who is believed to have carried out the abduction and held Pearl.

Born in 1974, Saeed is the son of a wholesale clothes merchant from Wanstead in northeast London who went to an expensive school but dropped out of one of Britain’s top universities, the London School of Economics.

In 1994, Indian police arrested Saeed and accused him of involvement in the kidnapping of three Britons and an American tourist.

Saeed and two other alleged militants were freed from an Indian jail in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages held on an Indian airliner hijacked to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

At his last remand hearing, Saeed had to be gagged by police as he emerged from court shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and “Down with America.”

He also threatened to make America suffer if he was extradited from Pakistan, a prosecution lawyer said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

I don't expect much to come of this indictment. Expect Omar Saeed to be released or killed by the Pak ISI before they'd let him be extradited to the U.S. Of course if the Pak ISI kills him - it'll be blamed on the U.S. CIA! Posted above are these threats made by Saeed in the Pak court ....

According to chief prosecutor Quereshi, Saeed threatened during the closed-door proceedings that if he were sent to America, he would return here as he did from India — a reference to his release by Indian authorities in December 1999 in exchange for passengers and crew of an Indian Airlines jet hijacked to Afghanistan.

Saeed also warned that if he were killed in a “fake encounter at the behest of America,” Americans would “suffer the consequences,” Quereshi said.

As Saeed was being hustled into an armored personnel carrier for the trip back to jail, he shouted at bystanders: “Sell your dollars because America will be finished soon.”

....he's setting the U.S. up to be blamed in either case - if we extradite him or if he is killed by the Pak ISI. So we're damned whatever happens!

.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2