Omar confesses to kidnapping Pearl: Pakistan

TIMES OF INDIA ^ | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 1:43:28 PM

[Madiuq]

ISLAMABAD: British-born chief suspect Sheikh Omar has confessed to kidnapping US journalist Daniel Pearl during intense interrogation, police sources said on Wednesday.

"The interrogation is continuing. He is talking but he is a hard nut to crack. We hope he will come out with the truth," a senior police interrogator said over telephone from Karachi.

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Hindi

Omar, 29, was flown to Karachi amid tight security after his arrest in Lahore on Tuesday, ending a massive manhunt involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He is understood to have been under constant questioning since his arrest, both by police in Lahore and in Karachi, where Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl, 38, disappeared on January 23.

Police sources said Omar had told interrogators that several people were involved in the kidnapping, but he had refused to identify them or give Pearl's whereabouts.

He has said that he believes Pearl is alive and his last telephone contact with the "mutual friends", who are holding the reporter in Karachi was made a few days ago.

Omar is believed to be a member of the Islamic militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is listed in the United States as a terrorist organisation.

[mvonfr]

How many twists and nails before he admits that his other name is Mullah Omar?

[Arleigh]

...does the third degree only count as torture when you are trying to save someone other than a journalist?

If Pearl had been a businessman or tourist, do you think we'd be hearing about him? There 2 missionaries who were kidnapped MONTHS ago by Al Qaeda terrorist in Philipines? Why don't we get hourly updates on THEIR status?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

[rstevens]

Pliers can be most effective as well. Grab a piece of skin and twist until he tells you what you want to know.

This is especially effective when applied to the testicles.

[Fireone]

What about his prayer rug and three meals consistent with the Muslim diet? Where is Jesse Jackson?

[Seruzawa]

Ain't it amazing what a police state can accomplish when it puts its mind to something.

Ja! Du kanst get a konfession from anybody fur anything! Makes closing cases far easier.

[powderhorn]

I say gave that punk terrorist the "truth serum", and make him talk.

"Truth serum" isn't very reliable for compelling someone to tell the truth. It blocks anxiety, so the person who is being questioned will feel free to say whatever is on his mind. The problem is, "whatever is on his mind" might be something different than the truth.

I think it's a good guess that the method of extracting information currently being used in Cuba is "sensory deprivation." Instead of pulling finger nails out and causing lots of pain, they block all the senses with gloves, blindfolds, ear muffs, etc. No pain, no torture, but after a while the person will be happy to give some information in trade for feeling something.

[vbmoneyspender]

I take it that you have some sympathy for Sheikh Omar. Just wondering though if you have any familiarity with his background, like, for instance, the fact that he served time in an Indian jail for kidnapping 3 Britons and an American in 1994. Or the fact that he was freed by the Indian gov't after his terrorist comrades hijacked an Indian airliner in 1999 and demanded his release in return for not killing the passengers on the airliner.

See Link.

[Seruzawa]

Oh knock off the straw man crap. I have no sympathy for that prick. But I understand a simple principle. It's called the slippery slope. Where do you draw the line?

Information gotten through torture is unreliable anyhow because the torturee is trying to tell the torturer what the torturer wants to hear. Claims that torture is used to extract information is usually just an excuse for sadists to get their rocks off.

[vbmoneyspender]

I draw the line somewhere about a trillion miles away from this creep. The world is going to be a whole hell of alot better off with out him and his terrorists comrades. That is kind of the point of the whole war, isn't it?