Pakistani admits role in Pearl murder case – police

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An Islamist militant suspected of
bringing murdered U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl to his kidnappers
has confessed he was working for two key al Qaeda-linked
operatives, police said on Saturday.

Mohammad Hashim Qadir was arrested last month in Gujranwala
in the central province of Punjab. Security sources believe he
set up a meeting between Pearl and militants who later
kidnapped and killed him.

“He has confessed to his role in the Pearl case and to some
robberies,” Gujranwala police chief Zafar Abbas told Reuters.

No-one was available to give comment from Qadir himself.

Abbas did not say what part Qadir, also known as Arif,
played in the Wall Street Journal reporter’s abduction and
murder, but said he had admitted taking instructions from two
militants who played key roles in the plot.

“He confessed he was receiving orders from Omar Sheikh and
Amjad Farooqi.”

British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, commonly known as
Omar Sheikh, was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding
the murder, but is still in jail awaiting an appeal hearing.

Amjad Hussain Farooqi was named as a conspirator in the
Pearl case, and was considered a key link between local
militants and al Qaeda planner Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, who was
captured in Pakistan in May.

Farooqi, who was also implicated in assassination plots
against President Pervez Musharraf, was killed by security
forces in the southern city of Nawabshah in September last
year.

Investigators in Karachi, where Pearl was murdered, say
Qadir acted as a go-between for Sheikh and Farooqi.

Intelligence officials say he was one of seven Islamist
militants still being sought in connection with Pearl’s murder.

Pearl, 38, was kidnapped in January 2002 while researching
a story on Islamist militants. The killers videotaped Pearl’s
execution and his headless corpse was found later.

In a book about her husband, “A Mighty Heart,” Pearl’s
widow Mariane described Qadir as a spokesman for
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (Movement for Holy Warriors), a militant
group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

Intelligence officials said Qadir also has links to
Jaish-e-Mohammad (Army of Mohammad), another militant group
linked to al Qaeda and blamed for a string of attacks in
Pakistan, including attempts to kill Musharraf.