Musharraf Opponents Criticize Handling of Kidnapping (Pearl's body may never be found)

New York Times ^ | 2/23/2002 | DOUGLAS JEHL

[l33t]

SLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 23 — Opponents of President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan blamed his military government today for failing to prevent the killing of Daniel Pearl, and they warned that the situation could get worse before it got better as General Musharraf tries to make good on a promise to put an end to terrorism.

On Friday night, General Musharraf said in a national television address that the killing of Mr. Pearl, an American journalist, apparently by Muslim militants, had doubled his resolve "to move much more strongly against all such terrorist people and those organizations that perpetrate terrorism, to move against them and liquidate them entirely from our country."

But some political parties that were banned when General Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup said today that Pakistan's military government bore primary responsibility for the breakdown in security. The Pakistan People's Party, led by Benazir Bhutto, the self-exiled former prime minister, said in a statement that "the murder of Daniel Pearl could be a sign of worse to come."

There have been evolving accounts of exactly what was shown on the videotape depicting Mr. Pearl's execution, which was provided to American law enforcement officials here late Thursday night. No copies of the tape are known to have been made public.

But a new description, provided by people with detailed knowledge of the videotape, conflicted with accounts today of exactly what was shown. It describes Mr. Pearl, who worked for The Wall Street Journal, as having been prone and apparently unconscious when his throat was cut. Some accounts had described him as having been interrupted in midconversation by his killers.

The new account says the videotape includes a number of breaks, but begins with Mr. Pearl reading what appeared to be coerced statements about his background, including an acknowledgment that he was Jewish, and about issues related to Pakistani prisoners at the American base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Later in the tape, two men in short- sleeved shirts are said to be visible as one slits Mr. Pearl's throat; later still, the results of the decapitation are visible, along with a knife lying by his chest.

One image at an earlier point of the tape suggests that Mr. Pearl might have been cut or stabbed in the chest at some point before his neck was cut, but that the chest wound was closed before that part of the videotape was made, the people with knowledge of the tape said. Steve Goldstein, a spokesman for Dow Jones & Company, The Journal's parent company, confirmed the basic elements of these accounts.

The statement by Mrs. Bhutto's party criticized the way General Musharraf's government handled the Pearl kidnapping, saying that his killing brought shame on the country. The Jamiat-i-Islami party, a relatively moderate Islamic force, said in a statement by its leader, Ghafoor Ahmed, that the kidnappers had "succeeded in bringing a bad name to Pakistan."

General Musharraf has promised to hold national elections in October, though he has also said he will remain as president beyond that date, so at one level, the criticism seemed to represent the beginning of a return to politics as usual in this country. But Pakistani security officials also said that they were increasing patrols around American installations and businesses and that they, too, feared further attacks.

In Karachi, the port city where Mr. Pearl was apparently executed after being kidnapped on Jan. 23, the police said they feared they might never find his body. The 38-year-old journalist was the South Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal. The police said they believed that Mr. Pearl had been killed at least a week ago, and perhaps as early as late January, making it less likely that his body would be recovered.

The increased security around American government installations appeared to reflect a view that Mr. Pearl's killing demonstrated an unexpected resolve on the part of Islamic militants and their supporters in Pakistan, whose power General Musharraf has vowed to restrict.

The prime suspect in the case, Ahmed Omar Sheikh, has told interrogators that, in addition to the kidnapping of Mr. Pearl, his group had planned an attack on the United States Consulate in Karachi. He has also told interrogators that he believes Mr. Pearl was killed between Jan. 29 and Jan. 31.

[Cicero]

It's not too suprising that The New York Times favors Benazir Bhutto, who is known as a liberal although she comes from a privileged family. But she is as corrupt as her father and unlikely to be capable of dealing with Pakistan's religious problem. She is certainly not strong enough to impose a Turkish solution on Pakistan. This article says surprisingly little about Musharraf or the ISI. There are new details about the film, but they have no obvious relevance to Musharraf's handling of the kidnapping. The writer's main purpose is presumably to put Bhutto back into play and maybe to persuade the internation do-gooders to support her.