ISLAMABAD – A militant suspected of bringing murdered US 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 Libbi, 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.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Condemns Tony Blair’s Announcement to Ban the Party
Sourse: Imran Waheed – Media Representative
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain
Uploaded/Updated: 08/06/2005 17:44:23
London, UK, August 5 - Today’s announcement at the PM’s press conference to impose a ban on Hizb ut Tahrir, the well established non violent Islamic political party has clearly exposed this PM’s and government’s fanaticism and extremism to curtail legitimate Islamic political debate in Britain, for their own political ends. This is a clear proof of the government’s failure to face the political opinions of the party through rational debate and discussion and a desperate attempt to prevent the British public hearing the opinions of the Muslim community.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has a record of over 50 years of following a method of non-violent political activity against imperialism and dictators and despots who rule the Muslim world with the West’s approval. In its work to establish the Islamic Caliphate, Hizb ut-Tahrir has never resorted to any sort of armed struggle and nor has it ever incited people to kill innocent civilians. It has throughout its history worked through intellectual and political means while its members have been tortured and killed in the thousands.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has in explicit terms stated that Islam forbids the killing of innocent civilians and expressed its denunciation of the killing of 58 innocent individuals on 7th July 2005 in London. To place a ban on a political party that has criticised the war in Iraq which Mr Blair and Mr Bush launched after blatantly lying to the world, the illegitimate occupation of Palestine, the desire for the Muslims to see the end of dictators and despots and live by the Islamic government, the Caliphate, in their own lands has proved that all the talk about freedom of speech, tolerance, people power and democracy, are only acceptable as long as one agrees with the policies of 10 Downing Street.
Dr Imran Waheed, Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, “By imposing a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, Mr Blair has joined the ranks of some of the world’s most brutal dictators such as Karimov, Musharraf, Mubarak and Gadaffi who after banning the party continue to imprison, murder and even boil alive members of Hizb ut-Tahrir for voicing their political opinions.”
“Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain explicitly states that it will continue in its non-violent political struggle in exposing the West’s colonial policies in the Muslim world and continue to create a positive public opinion about Islam as a way of life and the Caliphate as a new state and civilization that will free the world from the oppression of global capitalism.”
Notes to Editors:
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain will hold a press conference tomorrow (Saturday 06 August 2005) at 12pm in London.
Venue: London Continental Hotel, 88 Gloucester Place, London W1U 6HR. (access from 11 am).
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain is the UK branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global independent Islamic political party. The global leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Ata Abu Rushta, is in the Muslim world. The party works throughout the Islamic world to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate].
http://www.muslimuzbekistan.com/eng/ennews/2005/08/ennews06082005_1.html
Watch for women and child bombers, says Met David Leppard
Sunday Times (UK) ^ | August 07, 2005 (UK) | David Leppard
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458392/posts