The family of slain Wall Street Journal reporter may finally have an answer to who killed the infamous reporter in a gruesome recorded beheading in Karachi, Pakistan. Officials in Pakistan arrested Qari Abdul Hayee for his alleged involvement in facilitating the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, which eventually resulted in his death. Pearl was in Karachi to research a story about Pakistani militants and Richard Reid, the so-called “shoe-bomber”.
Pearl was kidnapped by militants and later decapitated. His killers sent a chilling video of his killing to U.S. officials. The video of Pearl’s death received condemnation all over the world. The video started off with Pearl seen declaring his Jewish heritage.
He said that his name is Daniel Pearl. He is a Jewish-American. His father is Jewish. His mother is Jewish. He is a Jew.”
The correspondent then went on to make statements that most analysts believe were made under duress. He spoke about how he had visited Israel several times with his family, and that a street in an Israeli town was named after his great-grandfather, one of its founders. The camera then turned over to members of the militant groups, who then claimed responsibility for the abduction of Pearl. The militants described themselves as members of the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistan’s Sovereignty. They demanded the release of Pakistanis being held without due process at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by the United States, as well as an end to the presence of U.S. troops in Pakistan, and the delivery of F-16 fighter jets purchased by Pakistan but never delivered.
Qari Abdul Hayee was arrested in a paramilitary operation targeting local militants in the port city of Karachi on Sunday, according to a senior government official who preferred to remain anonymous. He said that the covert operation was based on intelligence information received by security forces and that a significant number of weapons were recovered during the targeted raid.
Hayee is not the first man to be arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British militant was recently sentenced to death for his role in Pearl’s murder by an anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani city of Hyderabad. Three other accomplices to the murder were awarded life sentences, a term that is normally equivalent to twenty-five years in Pakistan. Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, who was also arrested in Pakistan in 2003, confessed to killing the Wall Street Journal reporter. Interestingly, Muhammad, who is also a suspect for his role in the 9/11 attacks, has not been charged with Pearl’s murder as U.S. officials felt it might complicate his prosecution for the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center.
Pearl’s widow, Mariane Pearl welcomed the capture of terrorists involved in her husband’s death, saying that it should serve as a reminder that there is still “a vast and international network of terrorists.” At the time of her husband’s death, a pregnant Mariane Pearl had called upon the international community to take responsibility for fighting terrorists, and upon citizens to take a more active role in deciding their countries’ foreign policies. The fact that no one has been charged with the tragic death of Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan serves as a stark reminder that a lot needs to be done to make the world a safer place, but this arrest will bring some comfort to those who had gotten to know the budding journalist.
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