Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 6:10:59 GMT -5
Killer claims his innocence is proved by Musharraf's memoir
A BRITISH militant sentenced to death in Pakistan for his role in the
murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl wants to use evidence from
President Musharraf's memoir to save himself from the hangman.
The Pakistani leader appeared to exonerate Omar Sheikh in his book In the
Line of Fire, serialised this week in The Times. Sheikh, 32, who was
brought up in Wanstead, East London, has been on death row since 2003
after being convicted of orchestrating the kidnap and murder of the Wall
Street Journal reporter.
General Musharraf appears to have changed his mind about the Briton's
guilt, saying he now believes that the man who beheaded the American
hostage was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
This allegation has stunned Pakistani officials, who had implored their
President not to disclose secrets about their investigations into
al-Qaeda. Rai Bashir, Sheikh's lawyer, said yesterday that he intended to
use the memoir to force a new appeal hearing.
In the Times extract General Musharraf appears to contradict the original
claim that the British militant callously planned Mr Pearl's murder,
saying: "Only later did I realise that Omar Sheikh had panicked because
the situation had spiralled out of his control." Mr Bashir said: "After
reading the book, if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my
arguments in favour of my client. It can be used as evidence."
3 other men jailed for life for their part in the crime have lodged
appeals.
While General Musharraf has included sensational revelations about
Pakistan's role in the War on Terror, British security chiefs believe that
he has not told them everything his country's intelligence services have
discovered about plots involving British terrorists, including the July 7
suicide bombers in London. In another extract carried by The Times,
General Musharraf criticised British intelligence agencies for not sharing
information with him.
Allegations made in the book have upset the White House, the CIA and the
Indian Government, and yesterday President Karzai of Afghanistan found
himself on the receiving end of the general's criticisms. The general
claimed that the Afghan leader did not know how to combat al-Qaeda and its
Taleban allies and that intelligence passed to Pakistan was useless. Mr
Karzai retaliated yesterday by producing d**ning evidence to the White
House about how the Taleban were operating unmolested in Pakistan.
The 2 leaders are due to meet today with President Bush. General Musharraf
has admitted that his closest aides urged him not to produce such a candid
memoir. "Most of the people were against my writing this book at this
moment, but like a good military leader I took the decision against the
major part of their advice," he said at the launch of the book in New York
on Monday.
(source : The Times (UK) )
A BRITISH militant sentenced to death in Pakistan for his role in the
murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl wants to use evidence from
President Musharraf's memoir to save himself from the hangman.
The Pakistani leader appeared to exonerate Omar Sheikh in his book In the
Line of Fire, serialised this week in The Times. Sheikh, 32, who was
brought up in Wanstead, East London, has been on death row since 2003
after being convicted of orchestrating the kidnap and murder of the Wall
Street Journal reporter.
General Musharraf appears to have changed his mind about the Briton's
guilt, saying he now believes that the man who beheaded the American
hostage was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
This allegation has stunned Pakistani officials, who had implored their
President not to disclose secrets about their investigations into
al-Qaeda. Rai Bashir, Sheikh's lawyer, said yesterday that he intended to
use the memoir to force a new appeal hearing.
In the Times extract General Musharraf appears to contradict the original
claim that the British militant callously planned Mr Pearl's murder,
saying: "Only later did I realise that Omar Sheikh had panicked because
the situation had spiralled out of his control." Mr Bashir said: "After
reading the book, if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my
arguments in favour of my client. It can be used as evidence."
3 other men jailed for life for their part in the crime have lodged
appeals.
While General Musharraf has included sensational revelations about
Pakistan's role in the War on Terror, British security chiefs believe that
he has not told them everything his country's intelligence services have
discovered about plots involving British terrorists, including the July 7
suicide bombers in London. In another extract carried by The Times,
General Musharraf criticised British intelligence agencies for not sharing
information with him.
Allegations made in the book have upset the White House, the CIA and the
Indian Government, and yesterday President Karzai of Afghanistan found
himself on the receiving end of the general's criticisms. The general
claimed that the Afghan leader did not know how to combat al-Qaeda and its
Taleban allies and that intelligence passed to Pakistan was useless. Mr
Karzai retaliated yesterday by producing d**ning evidence to the White
House about how the Taleban were operating unmolested in Pakistan.
The 2 leaders are due to meet today with President Bush. General Musharraf
has admitted that his closest aides urged him not to produce such a candid
memoir. "Most of the people were against my writing this book at this
moment, but like a good military leader I took the decision against the
major part of their advice," he said at the launch of the book in New York
on Monday.
(source : The Times (UK) )