Posted on 03/23/2002 3:27:38 AM PST by knighthawk
KARACHI: A team of senior Pakistani lawyers will defend British-born militant Sheikh Omar in his upcoming trial for the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, an advocate said on Saturday.
Omar, the self-proclaimed mastermind of Pearl's abduction, and 10 accomplices were charged Friday with murder, kidnap for ransom and terrorism, and ordered to stand trial from March 29.
The charges carry the maximum penalty of death. Omar's lawyer Saiful Malook said a team of senior lawyers, including relatives of the 29-year old militant, had been formed and were already examining the case.
"Omar will be defended by a strong team of lawyers," Malook said. The 10 co-charged include three men who allegedly sent e-mails to Pearl's employers at the Wall Street Journal containing death threats and photos of him in captivity. Seven others remain at large.
Pearl was the Journal's South Asia correspondent when he was abducted in this volatile southern port city on January 23. A video showing his decapitation was later delivered to US consular officials here on February 21. His remains have still not been found.
The formal charging of Omar sets back attempts to extradite him to the US, where a federal grand jury indicted him on March 14 for Pearl's abduction and murder, and for the 1994 abduction of an American tourist.
Islamabad has been resisting Washington's attempts to extradite Omar since late February, insisting investigations had to be completed in Pakistan first. Chief public prosecutor in Karachi, Raja Qureshi, said the start of the legal process ruled out any immediate chance of extraditing Omar.
"Once a trial commences then the person cannot be extradited unless the trial has been concluded and, if convicted, he has served out the sentence," Qureshi told AFP Friday.
Omar, whose full name is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, holds both British and Pakistani nationalities. Britain has said it would not object to his extradition.
Afterall, there is no body and these vermin protect their own.
They will say they are film makers and experts at special effects.
They let Pearl go and who knows what happened to him.
If the trial seems rigged, drop a daisy cutter on the courthouse.
I was just about to say this, except I'd drop the "If" clause.
--Boris
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