“The murder of Daniel Pearl continues to torment the conscience of many in Washington who make and implement our government’s policy decisions. As it should.”
“Coming into focus now is at least the “who” of what happened to Pearl. The kidnapping and killing was the work of a British-born and educated Islamic fanatic, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, 28, son of a wealthy Pakistani clothing manufacturer.”
“Saeed Sheikh went on to the London School of Economics to study mathematics and later was recruited to go to Bosnia as an aid worker. He returned to the United Kingdom a convinced Islamic fanatic.”
“In 1994, when Saeed Sheikh was just 20, he kidnapped three Brits and an American in Kashmir. Eventually the victims were rescued. Saeed Sheikh was shot and arrested by the Indian police, tried, convicted and imprisoned. In 1999, his gang hijacked an Indian airliner, flew it into Afghanistan and, after killing one passenger, released 155 others in exchange for Sheikh.”
“Upon his release from prison in India, Saeed Sheikh was flown to Kandahar in Afghanistan where he met and joined up with Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida group. Some believe that after the successes of the U.S. military, Saeed Sheikh has acted as a “go between” for the “tall man” — as bin-Laden is known — and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).”
“Early in February, about 10 days after Daniel Pearl was kidnapped, Saeed Sheikh went to the ISI base in Lahore. It is said he was there for a week working out a deal for how little he would say about the ISI’s support for terrorist groups in Kashmir and Pakistan in exchange for not being extradited to the United States. Neither the Pakistani police nor the U.S. Embassy nor the FBI who were in Islamabad investigating the kidnapping were told. The deal done, a brazen Saeed Sheikh gave himself up to police, telling them of Pearl’s capture but misleading them on every possible fact — including his ISI linkage.”
“Due to his boasting to the police, we now know that Saeed Sheikh’s gang — pompously calling itself now the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty — along with kidnapping and killing Western victims in Kashmir, staged the attacks on Kashmir and India’s parliaments in November and December of last year. They started this year with shooting up the American Centre in Kolkata, India, when Secretary of State Colin Powell was visiting last month.”
“Many and varied sources have told Washington officials that in all these attacks, Saeed Sheikh had logistical and operational support from the ISI in Karachi and Islamabad. ISI also helped him form and operate the Jaish-e-Muhammed — Muhammed’s Army — for his terrorist campaigns in Kashmir.”
“There are many in Musharraf’s government who believe that Saeed Sheikh’s power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA. The theory is that with such intense pressure to locate bin Laden, Saeed Sheikh was bought and paid for. True or not, it would be logical for the CIA to recruit an intelligent, young political criminal with contacts in both India and Pakistan. That he was uncontrollable may not have been a factor — until too late!”
“Another wake-up call for those for whom the war is far, far away: Saeed Sheikh has long had close contacts with the [Tanseem ul-Fuqra] (the Group of the Impoverished), which claims close ties with the Muslims of the Americas — a U.S. tax-exempt group claiming about 3,000 members in Red House, Va.”
Read more: Did Pearl die because Pakistan deceived CIA?
Related: A treasure trove of articles about Omar Sheikh (Saeed Sheikh)
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