Pearl Prosecution's Final Witness Is Heard

By: Zarar Khan, Associated Press Writer (AP) The prosecution's final witness was cross-examined Monday in the trial of four men accused of kidnapping and murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Police officer Hamid Ullah Memon recorded the initial criminal complaint by Pearl's wife after he disappeared from the port city of Karachi on Jan. 23.

Memon was asked why Mariane Pearl had filed the complaint 12 days after her husband had gone missing. His cross-examination will continue Tuesday.

Mariane Pearl, who now lives in Paris, had originally been scheduled to testify but was dropped as a witness after her attorney cited medical reasons. She gave birth to a boy on May 28.

Chief Prosecutor Raja Quereshi expressed confidence that his case against the four Islamic radicals charged remains solid. All four, including suspected mastermind Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, have pleaded innocent in the trial that started April 22.

"No dent whatsoever has been caused in the prosecution's case. The overwhelming incriminating evidence has not been shattered in any manner," Quereshi said. Quereshi said he is hopeful he will be able to make closing arguments this week.

The prosecution has been trying to finish up its case in hopes of avoiding potential complications raised by the discovery of a body last month.

The remains of a body believed to be Pearl's were recovered from a shallow grave in Karachi last month. It was found near a blood-splattered shed where investigators believe Pearl had been held by his captors. Definitive results from DNA testing are still pending.

Police were led to the spot by three suspects, who have not been charged in the case. The three have been identified as members of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Janghvi, a radical Islamic group with links to al-Qaida.

The death of Pearl, the Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was confirmed after U.S. officials in Karachi received in February a gruesome video showing his slaying. The tape has been submitted as evidence but defense attorneys have maintained it is fake.