-News for Mon. 22 April & Wed. 23
April 2002 Suspect Admitted Killing US Journalist in Pakistan, say
Witnesses
VOA
News 23
Apr 2002 14:19 UTC
 
Two Pakistani police
officers say they heard the chief suspect in the murder of American journalist
Daniel Pearl admit his role in the kidnapping and killing of the
reporter.
Testifying
Tuesday in a Karachi court, the two policemen said they heard suspect Ahmed
Omar Sheikh admit his role shortly after he was arrested in
mid-February.
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Daniel Pearl (Wall St. Journal photo) |
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Sheikh Omar, as
he is known, is on trial with three alleged accomplices for the murder of Mr.
Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped in late
January from Karachi as he was seeking to interview a militant Muslim leader.
All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Defense lawyers
objected to today's testimony, saying the statements made by their client two
months ago were not given under oath and therefore should not be part of the
court record. The judge said he would rule on the objection at a later
date.
Two other state
witnesses also testified they heard Mr. Pearl make arrangements to meet one of
seven suspects still being sought in the case. They said the conversation took
place hours before Mr. Pearl disappeared January 23.
Mr. Pearl's
murder shown on a video tape that surfaced in early February. His body has not
been recovered.
Some information
for this report provided by AFP.
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