The Hindu : 'Breakthrough' in a day or two, says Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 16, 2002

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'Breakthrough' in a day or two, says Pakistan
By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 15. Pakistan today expressed the confidence of achieving a ``major breakthrough'' in the next 24 to 48 hours in the case of kidnapping of The Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, from Karachi, 23 days ago.

Addressing a news conference at Lahore, the Pakistan Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, debunked the claim by Omar Sheikh, main suspect in the kidnapping, that Pearl could be dead.

Lt. Gen. (retd.) Haider's assertion came close on the heels of reports in the Pakistani media, which quoted the judge before whom Sheikh was produced on Thursday as saying that he did not hear him talk about Pearl's death.

Accusing Sheikh of changing his statements frequently, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Haider said the Government had no reason to believe him without evidence. ``There is no evidence to suggest that Pearl has been killed. We cannot accept Sheik Omar's claim as long as there is no evidence. We are expecting a major breakthrough within a day or two.'' The investigators had found some leads and were confident of arresting some more persons connected with the kidnapping, he said.

Significantly, the Minister talked about some ``foreign elements'' masterminding Pearl's abduction to sabotage the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's visit to the United States. Earlier, Pakistan had alleged an Indian angle in the case and claimed that one of the suspects had made calls on his cell phone to ``influential people'' in India.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, during his visit to Germany, had even mentioned that the Pakistan police had evidence suggesting that one of the suspects had called up three important people in New Delhi. However, when India demanded evidence, there was no response from Pakistan.

The so-called ``confession'' by Sheikh on Thursday about the possibility of Pearl having been killed by his captors appears to have clearly caught the Pakistani authorities napping. They are also embarrassed over Sheikh's statement that he had turned himself in to police on February 5 and that he was not apprehended on February 12.

With Gen. Musharraf on his first official visit to the United States, the ``confession'' could not have come at a more inopportune time. Investigators have been under tremendous pressure to ensure the early release of Pearl as the abduction was casting a shadow on his visit.

There was a flurry of activity in Pakistan within hours of Sheikh's deposition before the judge. The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said Sheikh could not be relied upon as he had been making contradictory statements since he was apprehended three days ago.

Later, the Inspector-General of Sindh held a special press conference in Karachi to make the same point and emphasise that the Government did not believe that the kidnappers could have killed Pearl.

It is believed that the authorities have rounded up several other persons in connection with the case since Thursday night. Pearl went missing on January 23 when he was investigating links between the Pakistani militant groups and Richard C. Reid, ``shoe bomber'' arrested for allegedly trying to detonate explosives during a Paris-Miami flight in December.

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