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CNN Live At Daybreak
Concern at State Department After Execution of Pakistani Man
Aired November 15, 2002 - 05:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: There is concern at the State Department this morning for Americans overseas after the execution of a Pakistani man in Virginia. Mir Aimal Kasi killed two CIA employees back in 1993.
And CNN's Bob Franken reports that the death is the final chapter in a decade long story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not long after family members, clergy and attorneys paid their final visits, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last ditch appeals and Virginia's governor, Mark Warner, issued a statement saying, "I will not intervene." It was minutes after nine o'clock at night, as anti-capital punishment protesters, a larger group than normal, picketed outside the prison grounds. The lethal injection was administered to Mir Aimal Kasi.
LARRY TRAYLOR, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Death was pronounced at 9:07 p.m. There were no complications. Mr. Kasi did make a last statement. He simply said, "There is no god but Allah."
FRANKEN: Closing the file on the case nearly 10 years after its tragic beginning. On January 25, 1993, the morning ambush outside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in McLean, Virginia shocked the world. It left two CIA employees dead, three others injured.
AIMAL KHAN KASI: I was real angry at the policy of the United States government in the Middle East, but really towards the Palestinian people.
FRANKEN: It took four years, but the relentless pursuit by law enforcement finally paid off. June 15, 1997, investigator tracked down Mir Aimal Kasi to a hotel in Quetta, Pakistan. Among those who crashed into his room, FBI Agent Brad Garrett, who had led the hunt.
BRAD GARRETT, FBI AGENT: And we get into this huge tussle with him. He's screaming at the top of his lungs. We end up gagging him at some point.
FRANKEN: Garrett has spent a lot of time with the man he captured and at Kasi's request, he was with him at the gurney until moments before the lethal injection was administered. The execution has worried officials both here and abroad, there have been demonstrations for days in Kasi's native Pakistan. The State Department is warning Americans there of possible revenge attacks. Security here at the prison was beefed up. Governments around the world are concerned that this might serve as an excuse for new terrorism even though Kasi, before his death, said he opposed any violence in his name.
KASI: In Pakistan, politically a lot of people like me. So I believe that there are really big chances of retaliation against Americans there. But personally I don't encourage anybody to attack Americans.
FRANKEN (on camera): Security at the prison was also beefed up. Officials around the world are worried that Kasi's execution for an act of terrorism might serve as an excuse for new terrorism.
Bob Franken, CNN, Jarratt, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: CIA Director Tenet released a statement after the execution. And quoting here, "Today our thoughts are with our two colleagues who were murdered on January 25, 1993, as well as the three others who were wounded that day. They and their loved ones will always be part of our agency family. They will remain in our thoughts and prayers long after today."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Man>
Aired November 15, 2002 - 05:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: There is concern at the State Department this morning for Americans overseas after the execution of a Pakistani man in Virginia. Mir Aimal Kasi killed two CIA employees back in 1993.
And CNN's Bob Franken reports that the death is the final chapter in a decade long story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not long after family members, clergy and attorneys paid their final visits, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last ditch appeals and Virginia's governor, Mark Warner, issued a statement saying, "I will not intervene." It was minutes after nine o'clock at night, as anti-capital punishment protesters, a larger group than normal, picketed outside the prison grounds. The lethal injection was administered to Mir Aimal Kasi.
LARRY TRAYLOR, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Death was pronounced at 9:07 p.m. There were no complications. Mr. Kasi did make a last statement. He simply said, "There is no god but Allah."
FRANKEN: Closing the file on the case nearly 10 years after its tragic beginning. On January 25, 1993, the morning ambush outside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in McLean, Virginia shocked the world. It left two CIA employees dead, three others injured.
AIMAL KHAN KASI: I was real angry at the policy of the United States government in the Middle East, but really towards the Palestinian people.
FRANKEN: It took four years, but the relentless pursuit by law enforcement finally paid off. June 15, 1997, investigator tracked down Mir Aimal Kasi to a hotel in Quetta, Pakistan. Among those who crashed into his room, FBI Agent Brad Garrett, who had led the hunt.
BRAD GARRETT, FBI AGENT: And we get into this huge tussle with him. He's screaming at the top of his lungs. We end up gagging him at some point.
FRANKEN: Garrett has spent a lot of time with the man he captured and at Kasi's request, he was with him at the gurney until moments before the lethal injection was administered. The execution has worried officials both here and abroad, there have been demonstrations for days in Kasi's native Pakistan. The State Department is warning Americans there of possible revenge attacks. Security here at the prison was beefed up. Governments around the world are concerned that this might serve as an excuse for new terrorism even though Kasi, before his death, said he opposed any violence in his name.
KASI: In Pakistan, politically a lot of people like me. So I believe that there are really big chances of retaliation against Americans there. But personally I don't encourage anybody to attack Americans.
FRANKEN (on camera): Security at the prison was also beefed up. Officials around the world are worried that Kasi's execution for an act of terrorism might serve as an excuse for new terrorism.
Bob Franken, CNN, Jarratt, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: CIA Director Tenet released a statement after the execution. And quoting here, "Today our thoughts are with our two colleagues who were murdered on January 25, 1993, as well as the three others who were wounded that day. They and their loved ones will always be part of our agency family. They will remain in our thoughts and prayers long after today."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Man>
