Slain 'WSJ' Reporter Daniel Pearl's Father: Punish Al Qaeda No. 3

By: The father of murdered Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl said a top al Qaeda operative, accused by Pakistan's president of killing the young reporter, should be punished if his role in the crime is proven.

Former al Qaeda No. 3 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the attacks of September 11, 2001, was blamed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in his book released this week for killing Pearl or taking part in his 2002 murder in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi.

"It is important if he (Mohammed) had any part in the crime that he should be brought to justice," Judea Pearl said late Thursday in a telephone interview from New York.

Mohammed, a dual Kuwaiti-Pakistani citizen, was arrested in 2003 in Pakistan and had been held by U.S. authorities in a secret location until he and 13 other terror suspects were recently transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Pakistani officials had not previously confirmed Mohammed's role in Pearl's brutal murder after his kidnapping on January 23, 2002. His remains were found February 10.

But in Musharraf's memoir "In The Line of Fire," released Monday, the president accused Mohammed.

"The man who may have actually killed Pearl or at least participated in his butchery, we eventually discovered, was none other than Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's No. 3," Musharraf wrote.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department confirmed it had evidence suggesting Mohammed played a role in Pearl's death. But it was not immediately clear if he would be charged.

Pakistani authorities convicted four people over Pearl's murder, including British-born Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who faces the death penalty. The three others were sentenced to life in prison. All are appealing their sentences.

Sheikh's lawyer, Rai Bashir, said he plans to use Musharraf's book as evidence in his client's appeal hearing, saying it proves Sheikh was innocent.

But Pearl's father said Sheikh should also be punished for his role in organizing the kidnapping, as well as luring the Wall Street Journal reporter to Karachi by promising an interview with a militant leader.

Sheikh "has become the symbol of the (extremist) ideology now. People see him as a hero, but it is important to send a message to those circles of society" by proceeding with his sentence, said Judea Pearl.

Speaking days ahead of what would have been the reporter's 43rd birthday on October 10, Judea Pearl bemoaned the spread of Islamic extremism in the world.

"We are facing the same problem (with Islamic extremism) today, but probably more acutely than in 2002," Pearl said.

Judea Pearl said a new documentary titled "The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Death of Daniel Pearl," will air October 10 on HBO. The documentary follows the lives of Daniel Pearl and Sheikh before they crossed paths in Karachi.