Kidnap Suspect Lied, Says Pakistan

Authorities accused the suspected mastermind in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl of trying to derail the investigation with lies after he stunned a courtroom Thursday by saying he believed that the journalist was dead.

But in the wake of Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh’s bombshell, investigators here acknowledged that they were still unable to answer key questions, including whether Pearl is alive, and couldn’t say whether they were any closer to solving his disappearance, now entering its fourth week.

“[Sheikh] is very intelligent, clever and, I would say, experienced in his own field, and a hard nut to crack,” said Syed Kamal Shah, the inspector general of police in Sindh province, where Karachi is located.

Sheikh’s courtroom allegations earlier Thursday contradicted what authorities say he had told them under questioning. On Tuesday, investigators said Sheikh had assured them that Pearl was alive. On Thursday, Shah added that Sheikh said during subsequent interrogation that he had contacted Pearl’s captors and asked them to release him.

As for the new allegation that Pearl was probably dead, Shah said, “We will believe that statement only if it is substantiated by evidence, and so far, we have no evidence.”

Pearl, 38, disappeared Jan. 23 in Karachi en route to a secretive meeting that he thought would lead him to a reclusive Muslim cleric. Two e-mails with photographs of Pearl demanded, among other things, the release of Pakistani prisoners held by the U.S. at its Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba and threatened to execute him within 24 hours. Since then, there has been no contact with the captors.

The case took a twist during Sheikh’s Thursday morning appearance before a special anti-terrorism court when the suspect tore off the hood placed over his head and told a judge that “as far as I understand, he [Pearl] is dead.”

Sheikh also alleged that he had been detained a full week before his reported arrest Tuesday and interrupted an explanation of the charges against him by saying he was guilty and didn’t want to defend himself.

“I kidnapped him,” the bespectacled Sheikh said in a soft voice. “Right or wrong, I had my reasons. I think that our country shouldn’t be catering to America’s needs.”

In a suggestive answer to a question about whether he had been beaten by local police, Sheikh said, “They are better than others,” and requested a medical examination by a neutral physician. Observers in the courtroom said he appeared to be bruised.

The judge ordered Sheikh held until a Feb. 25 court date.

Government sources in Islamabad, the capital, acknowledged that Sheikh had been in custody earlier than authorities reported but they wouldn’t clarify the duration or circumstances. In addition, the sources said, Sheikh surrendered and wasn’t nabbed in a stakeout, as Shah’s agency had reported.

Confronted with the contradictions, Shah said, “As inspector general, I am not interested in how he was picked up.”

Civil rights attorney Ansar Burney alleged that Sheikh’s appearance had been delayed so it would not embarrass Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf during his meeting with President Bush on Wednesday.

Burney said he will file a protest that authorities violated a rule requiring that suspects go before a judge within 24 hours.

Even as he repeatedly expressed satisfaction with the pace and progress of the investigation, Shah acknowledged during his first public briefing on the case that “it could take a little longer than we anticipate or we expect” to solve the case.

“All I can say at this point is it will not be more than a couple of days,” he said.

Shah, nonetheless, was disappointed at what he termed a difficult interrogation of Sheikh, a 27-year-old British citizen who had earlier been imprisoned for his role in kidnapping foreign tourists in the Indian-controlled part of the disputed Kashmir region.

“He is cool but intelligent, and he is at times quite evasive,” Shah said. “He is the type of person who can evade questions in interrogation for quite some time.”

Asked whether Sheikh had been beaten, Shah assured, “We have not applied any physical force as yet.”

A spokesman for the Wall Street Journal said the paper remained confident that Pearl was alive. His wife, Mariane, who is six months pregnant, again pleaded for Pearl’s release in a written statement: “Our child is a living soul, nafs al-ru [the same soul as myself]. Since his father’s disappearance, he is now breathing into his being the worry and apprehension I have about my husband’s well-being.

“I have faith you will trust the sincerity of my message to you as a wife and expectant mother, and that you will let him go free to join me.”