Pearl case puts Pak terror industry in global spotlight

It is only in high-profile cases like Pearl’s that they fail to escape global scrutiny. The case drew further attention because a Briton was named the mastermind of Pearl’s abduction and murder.

UK-born Ahmed Omar Sheikh, found guilty in the Daniel Pearl murder case, was earlier given a sentence, which was later overturned by Pakistan court. (File photo| AFP)

The revoking of capital punishment awarded to international terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, of British origin, for the beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl, has put Pakistan’s justice delivery system under glare.

Look no further than the multiple escape routes Pakistan’s courts offered 26/11 Mumbai terror mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Jaish chief Masood Azhar and Jamaat-ud-Dawa boss Hafiz Saeed to figure out how its judiciary leans towards the deep state.

The bigger blame rests on Pakistan’s law enforcement, which doesn’t do enough legwork in terror cases, perhaps intentionally, making the job easy for the judiciary to quash cases or offer lenient sentences.

But what else can one expect from a country that uses terror as an instrument of state policy? Just a couple of years ago, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had indicated that Pakistan’s government of the day was very much involved in the 26/11 attack.

It is only in high-profile cases like Pearl’s that they fail to escape global scrutiny. The case drew further attention because a Briton was named the mastermind of Pearl’s abduction and murder.

While there is no ambiguity over Omar Saeed’s hand in the 2002 kidnap—he is said to have lured Pearl by offering access to wannabe shoe bomber Richard Reid—there are others like 9/11 accused Khalid Sheikh, now in Guantanamo Bay, who claimed it was he (Sheikh) who had masterminded the Wall Street Journal reporter’s execution.

That put the convictions of Saeed and three others sentenced to life under a cloud, throwing the case wide open.

Be that as it may, Saeed is a ranking extremist specialising in kidnap and terror financing. He was first arrested in India for the abduction of Western tourists in 1994, but had to be traded along with a few others in 1999 to save the lives of hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC814’s passengers stuck in Kandahar.

That his freedom was sought by the hijackers indicates his value to the terror industry. He cannot be let loose and has since been rearrested. How Pakistan holds him to account will be keenly watched.