US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has spoken over telephone with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and mentioned the accountability of convicted terrorists accountable for the homicide of Daniel Pearl, in keeping with the State Department.
Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and beheaded whereas he was in Pakistan investigating a narrative in 2002 on the hyperlinks between the nation’s highly effective spy company ISI and al-Qaeda.
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated on Friday that Blinken strengthened America’s concern over Pakistan Supreme Court’s ruling acquitting Pearl’s killers.
“Blinken and Qureshi discussed how to ensure accountability for convicted terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and others responsible for the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl,” Price stated in a readout of the decision.
“In addition, the Secretary and the Foreign Minister discussed the importance of continued US-Pakistan cooperation on the Afghan peace process, support for regional stability, and the potential to expand our trade and commercial ties,” Price stated.
A day earlier, Blinken expressed concern over Pakistan Supreme Court’s resolution acquitting these concerned within the sensational kidnapping and homicide of Daniel Pearl in 2002 and stated that the judgement is an affront to terrorism victims all over the place.
In a strongly-worded assertion, Blinken urged Pakistan to discover all authorized choices to make sure that the killers of Pearl are delivered to justice.
“The United States is deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder and any proposed action to release them,” he stated.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed appeals towards the acquittal of British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh within the kidnapping and homicide case of Pearl and ordered his launch, a judgement denounced by the American journalist’s household as ‘a complete travesty of justice.’
Sheikh and his three aides – Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib – had been convicted and sentenced within the abduction and homicide case of Pearl in Karachi in 2002.
Blinken stated: “Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh was indicted in the United States in 2002 for hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, resulting in the murder of Pearl, the South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, as well as the 1994 kidnapping of another United States citizen in India”.
The court docket’s resolution is an affront to terrorism victims all over the place, together with in Pakistan, he stated.
“We expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously review its legal options to ensure justice is served. We take note of the Attorney General’s statement that he intends to seek review and recall of the decision. We are also prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen,” Blinken stated.
The United States is dedicated to securing justice for Pearl’s household and holding terrorists accountable, he stated.
Pearl’s homicide came about three years after Sheikh, together with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was launched by India in 1999 and given secure passage to Afghanistan in trade for the practically 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814.
He was serving a jail time period in India for kidnappings of Western vacationers within the nation.
A 3-judge bench of Pakistan Supreme Court led by Justice Mushir Alam on Thursday dismissed the Sindh authorities’s enchantment towards the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) resolution to overturn the conviction of Sheikh within the Pearl homicide case. The beheading of the American journalist in 2002 had grabbed worldwide headlines.
The court docket ordered that three others, who had been sentenced to life in jail for his or her half in Pearl’s kidnapping and loss of life, even be freed.
