Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, also known as Saeed Sheikh, Omar Sheikh or Sheikh Omar
“13.05.2002 Another witness, Aamir Raza Qureshi, had, as far as he is concerned, declared to the court that Daniel Pearl had met Sheikh Omar at the hotel Akbar in Rawalpindi a few days before his abduction. Lastly, judge Irum Jehangir had reported how Sheikh Omar had confessed on 14 February to be the mastermind of the abduction and had affirmed that, to his knowledge, the journalist had already been assassinated.”
“17.05.2002 A dismembered body, which could be that of Daniel Pearl, has been found by investigators in the southern outskirts of Karachi, says chief investigator Mansour Mughal. This information has been confirmed by government spokesman General Rachid Qureshi, who said that the police were “quite sure” that the remains were those of the American journalist.”
“21.05.2002 Citing US State Department sources, the American broadcasting channel CNN announced that initial forensic tests confirm the body found in the outskirts of Karachi on 17 May is indeed that of Daniel Pearl. An official statement will be made only once the results of DNA tests carried out in Lahore are known; these are expected this week. The body was found as a result of the questioning by Pakistani intelligence services of two members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed militant Sunni group. As Mohsin Imam, one of Sheikh Omar’s lawyers, said, “the trial could take a new direction if the police and prosecution come up with new evidence, (…) or if the body that has been found turns out to be that of Daniel Pearl”. He added however that lawyers for the defence would not be asking for an adjournment. Following the discovery of the American journalist’s body, Sheikh Omar continues to plead not guilty and denies having been in contact with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.”
“21.06.2002 Appearing before the court in Hyderabad, Islamic militant Sheikh Omar denied all charges brought against him. In his statement he said he had been unlawfully detained for a week before his arrest was announced on 12 February 2002. This, he said, allowed investigators time to manufacture evidence against him. The statement he made on 14 February 2002 concerning the death of journalist Daniel Pearl had not been made under oath and for this reason the Islamic militant considers that it should not be taken into account. Fahad Naseem and Salman Saquib, his two co-defendants, are said to have confessed to Sheikh Omar’s guilt under torture.”
“11.07.2002 The trial of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil ended on 10 July. Lawyers for the defence called for the four suspects to be acquitted on the grounds of lack of evidence. The chief prosecutor called for the death penalty. The judge, Syed Ali Ashraf Shah, will announce his verdict on 15 July.”
“15.07.2002 Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was sentenced to death on 15 July by the Hyderabad anti-terrorist court. His three accomplices, Salman Saqib, Fahad Naseem and Sheikh Adil, were given life imprisonment. The defence said it would appeal against what it called the “unjust” decisions. One defence lawyer, Rai Bashir, said the verdict had been ordered by the Pakistani government to appease the United States and that “President Musharraf had already announced he wanted the death penalty for Omar.””
“16.07.2002 Sheikh Omar has threatened the Pakistani authorities with reprisals. “We shall see who dies first, me or the authorities who have arranged the death sentence for me,” he declared in a message read out by his lawyer. The latter also announced that his client would appeal against the sentence – a process which could take anything from five to twelve months. The Bush administration welcomed Sheikh Omar’s conviction, which it viewed as a further example of “Pakistan showing leadership in the war against terror”. The US State Department said that since Sheikh Omar had been sentenced to death there was no reason for him to be extradited to the United States. The State Department does, however, retain the right to follow through on extradition if Sheikh Omar’s appeal is successful.”
“5.08.2002 According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the authorities are holding back the information that they have arrested four new suspects believed to be the actual killers of US journalist Daniel Pearl and that Sheikh Omar and his three accomplices, already convicted in this killing, were only involved in kidnapping Pearl. Unidentified security officials reportedly told the newspaper’s reporter, Anwar Iqbal, that the four new detainees are members of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi sectarian organization. “We know that they killed Pearl but we do not want to say so yet,” the sources reportedly said.”
“19.08.2002 According to an Associated Press dispatch of 18 August, three Pakistani militants who led police to Daniel Pearl’s body have reportedly revealed new details about his murder. Quoting two unidentified Pakistani police officers, the AP said these new suspects have admitted to having played a role in the kidnapping. They also reportedly said that Pearl was killed by an Arab, probably an associate of Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre, two days after Pearl had tried to escape. The Pakistani authorities have not yet charged the three new suspects, indeed, they have not even officially recognized that the three are being held. However, their allegations contradict some of the evidence presented in the trial of Sheikh Omar and the three others convicted with him, and it could influence the outcome of their appeals.”
“23.08.2002 The Pakistani Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, told Agence France-Presse that police were investigating the possibility that Al Qaeda was involved in the murder of Daniel Pearl. Investigators are following this new lead after suspects told of the involvement of a man of Arab origin.”
“18.09.2002 One of the al-Qaeda activists arrested during the police raid in Karachi on 11 September is thought to have been involved in the assassination of Daniel Pearl, according to a statement made to the AP agency by a Pakistani official who wished to remain anonymous. The man, a Yemeni citizen, has apparently been indentified as one of Pearl’s killers by Fazal Karim, a Pakistani suspected of having taken part in the kidnapping of the journalist. If this accusation proves to be correct, it will be the first tangible proof of the involvement of al-Qaeda in the Pearl affair.”
21.10.2002 “US government officials have told the Wall Street Journal that the third-ranking leader of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, personally murdered its reporter Daniel Pearl in February 2002. The paper said on 21 October that new secret information showed that Mohammed, the supposed mastermind of the 11 September attacks captured in Pakistan in March this year, had slit Pearl’s throat with a knife. Many Pakistani newspapers carried the latest report but Pakistani officials said they could not confirm it. The court handling the appeal of four Islamists against their conviction for murdering Pearl cancelled its hearing on 21 October for the sixth time since last December because of the absence of defence lawyers.”
Read more: Al-Qaeda number three killed reporter Daniel Pearl, says US
Related: A treasure trove of articles about Omar Sheikh (Saeed Sheikh)
2021-week-15
