New Allegations Emerge In Case Of Slain Wall Street Journal Reporter That Could Complicate Case

New Allegations Emerge In Case Of Slain Wall Street Journal Reporter That Could Complicate Case

by Afzal Nadeem
The Associated Press
August 18, 2002

Three Pakistani militants who led police to the body of Daniel Pearl claim the Wall Street Journal correspondent was murdered by an Arab three days after he tried to escape from kidnappers, investigators said Sunday.

The alleged new details of Pearl's kidnap-slaying do not exonerate British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted with three others July 15. Saeed was sentenced to death by hanging and the others received life sentences.

However, their claims, which have been rumored for weeks in Pakistan, could influence the appeal filed by Saeed and the others with the High Court here in Sindh province. Some of the new purported details conflict with evidence presented at the first trial. Pearl, 38, was kidnapped Jan. 23 in Karachi while researching links between Pakistani Islamic extremists and Richard C. Reid, who was arrested in December on a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives in his shoe.

Two police investigators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three militants - Naeem Bukhari, Fazal Karim and Zubair Chishti - have admitted a role in Pearl's kidnapping. However, they have not been charged, and Pakistani authorities have not even acknowledged officially that they are being held.

According to the two police officers, the militants said Saeed telephoned them on the evening of Jan. 23 and told them Pearl was en route to the Village Restaurant, where he expected to meet an Islamic activist who was supposedly trying to arrange an interview with a prominent cleric.

Pearl was put in one car, which was followed by another vehicle containing three other kidnappers. The two vehicles followed Bukhari, who led the convoy on a motorcycle to the shack where Pearl was to be held.

According to the two investigators, Pearl tried to escape as he was being led to the toilet during his sixth day in captivity. However, he was tackled by Karim and Chishti, who beat him and shot him in the leg.

The struggle made so much noise that students at a nearby Islamic school ran out onto the roof to see what was happening, police said.

A day after the escape attempt, police said, Bukhari told his fellow kidnappers that they must kill Pearl, although the officers said it was unclear who gave the order for his murder.

The kidnappers waited a day while they deliberated issuing a ransom demand, the officers said. On the ninth day of the kidnapping, three Arabs, whom the suspects believed to have been Yemenis, were brought to the hide-out, the police said. The two officers said the militants told them the Arabs were associates of Ramzi Yousef - the imprisoned mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Police said the kidnappers began asking Pearl a series of questions about his religion and his background as one of the Arabs filmed it with a video camera.

Suddenly, Karim seized Pearl's hands and one of the Arabs slit his throat, the officers said. The actual murder was supposed to have been recorded but "the cameraman lost his nerve," one of the policemen said. The videotape was later sent to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, confirming Pearl was dead.

The effect of the new allegations on the case against Saeed and the three others is unclear. All four were arrested in February before the videotape appeared.

However, the government never alleged that Saeed or the others were personally involved in Pearl's murder. Authorities said they were looking for seven others in the case.

However, a taxi driver testified for the prosecution that he saw Saeed get into the car with Pearl, which differs from the three militants' account. The body was discovered in a shallow grave while the trial was underway. The government announced the results of DNA tests after the verdict.

Pakistani lawyers not involved in the case said the appeals court, which agreed to consider the case this week, could order a new trial if the policemen's account is corroborated.

At the time Pearl's body was discovered, state-run Pakistan Television said police were led to the grave by three members of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Janghvi, a radical Islamic group with links to al-Qaida.

Pearl's body was found on property owned by the Al-Rashid Trust, whose assets were frozen by the United States last year after accusations it was a conduit for money to al-Qaida.

The grave was about 500 yards from a large Islamic religious school, called Jamia Rashidia, which is believed to have links to Jaish-e-Mohammed and other al-Qaida-affiliated militant groups.

Pearl's body was flown back to the United States and was buried Aug. 11 in the Los Angeles area.

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