KARACHI, 6 March — The government said yesterday that no laws would be violated if it decides to extradite to the United States the confessed mastermind of slain American reporter Daniel Pearl’s abduction. After assurances by the public prosecutor, the high court of southern Sindh province threw out a petition filed by the wife of chief suspect Sheikh Omar asking that the British-born militant not be extradited.
“If the respondent (the Pakistani government) decides to deliver the husband of the petitioner to the offices or authorities of a foreign country, then he will be delivered without any contravention of the law of the land,” the court ruling said.
Sheikh Omar’s wife, Sadia Omar Sheikh, had filed a petition saying that “even if there were some allegations against him he (has) the right to a fair trial in his country and not by a court outside Pakistan.”
She said in her petition that if the Pakistani government decides to hand her husband over to a foreign country, he would be delivered in violation of Pakistani laws.
The United States has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to extradite Omar, who admitted in court on Feb. 14 that he arranged Pearl’s kidnapping and that the reporter was dead.
A grisly videotape showing the Wall Street Journal correspondent’s slaying surfaced a week later. Pakistan has said it is considering the extradition request but reserved the right to try Omar in its own courts.
The London-born Omar holds both British and Pakistani nationalities. Britain has said it would not object to his extradition. Pearl was kidnapped on Jan. 23 while working on a story attempting to link extremists to the so-called shoe-bomber Richard Reid. His body has still not been found.
The United States also wants to question Omar, 29, over the 1994 kidnapping of an American in India. Islamabad does not have a formal extradition treaty with Washington, but both sides say an agreement reached when Pakistan was part of the British Empire is still in force.
Police, meanwhile, admitted they detained the wife of Sheikh Omar’s co-accused, Amjad Hussain Farooqi, on Monday but later released her. Amjad is still at large. “Yes, we detained Amjad’s wife from a village near Samundri (in Faisalabad district of central Punjab province) but I have heard from my superiors that she was released this (Tuesday) morning,” Samundri’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Hameedullah Niazi told Reuters yesterday. He gave no reason for her detention or release.
Amjad is among seven other suspects charged with Pearl’s abduction and murder. All are on the run and are the focus of a nationwide manhunt.
