Daniel Pearl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 10, 1963 Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | February 1, 2002 (aged 38) Karachi, Pakistan |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Body discovered | May 16, 2002 |
| Resting place | Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BA) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | The Wall Street Journal |
| Title | South Asia Bureau Chief |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Parents |
|
Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped by Islamist militants while he was on his way to what he had expected would be an interview with Pakistani religious cleric Mubarak Ali Gilani in the city of Karachi.[1][2][3] Pearl had moved to Mumbai, India, upon taking up a regional posting by his newspaper and later entered Pakistan to cover the war on terror, which was launched by the United States in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001. At the time of his abduction, he had been investigating the alleged links between British citizen Richard Reid (or the "Shoe Bomber") and al-Qaeda; Reid had reportedly completed his training at a facility owned by Gilani, who had been accused by the United States of being affiliated with the Pakistani terrorist organization Jamaat ul-Fuqra.
A few days after his disappearance, Pearl's captors released a video in which he is recorded condemning American foreign policy and repeatedly telling the camera that he and his family are Jewish and have visited Israel, following which his throat is slit and his head severed from his body.[4][5] Before killing Pearl, the captors had issued an ultimatum to the United States government, namely including the demands that all Pakistani terrorists be freed from American prisons and that the United States move forward with a halted shipment of F-16s for the Pakistani government.
Gilani refuted allegations of involvement with Jamaat ul-Fuqra and Pearl's killing. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested by Pakistani authorities and sentenced to death in July 2002 for the execution,[1] but his conviction was overturned by a Pakistani court in 2020.[6][7][8] Sheikh had previously been arrested by Indian authorities for his involvement in the 1994 kidnappings of Western tourists in India, and is also an affiliate of Jaish-e-Mohammed and al-Qaeda, among other armed jihadist organizations.
- ^ a b "Online NewsHour Update: Pakistan Convicts Four Men in Pearl Murder". PBS.org. July 15, 2002. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ Mount, Mike (March 15, 2007). "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: I beheaded American reporter". CCN.com. Cable News Network. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ Anthony, Augustine (May 23, 2011). "Study ties new al Qaeda chief to murder of journalist Pearl". Reuters. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
- ^ Fonda, Daren (September 27, 2003). "On the Trail of Daniel Pearl". Time. Time Inc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2003. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ Escobar, Pepe (June 28, 2003). "Book Review: Who Killed Daniel Pearl?". Asia Times. Archived from the original on June 29, 2003. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Pakistan court overturns conviction in death of Daniel Pearl". ABC News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Profile: Omar Saeed Sheikh". BBC News. July 16, 2002. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- ^ Masood, Salman (April 3, 2020). "Pakistan Rearrests 4 Men in Daniel Pearl Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 7, 2021.