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American Morning

Lead Suspect in Daniel Pearl's Kidnapping and Murder in Court Earlier Today

Aired February 25, 2002 - 07:04   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, the lead suspect in Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder, Ahmed Sheikh Omar Saeed, was in court earlier today. A judge ordered the suspect to remain in custody for two more weeks as the investigation continues.

And news today that Pearl's death might have been avoided. Two weeks before his abduction, according to "Newsweek," the Bush administration asked Pakistani officials to arrest Saeed Sheikh on separate charges.

CNN's Chris Burns joins us from Karachi now with the very latest -- good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, a small but important victory for the prosecution today. They're allowed to hold in their custody for two more weeks Sheikh Omar Saeed as well as two other suspects who are accused of having taken part in sending the e-mails that show Daniel Pearl in captivity with a gun to his head, as well as sending the e-mail demanding that the U.S. release Pakistani prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.

Under very tight security today, around the high court building, with armored cars bringing the three suspects in with sheets over their heads surrounded by dozens of police with Kalashnikovs. They were brought into the judge's chambers, put behind closed doors where the lawyers and the judge got together, along with the accused, and discussed what the next step will be.

Now, the judge accepted the argument by the prosecution that they need more time, more time especially because of what happened late last week when the gruesome videotape surfaced showing Daniel Pearl being, at least showing him killed and showing him beheaded. Those gruesome scenes are what, the reason why the prosecutors say they would like time now to find Daniel Pearl's, to find the weapon that killed him and to try to find more evidence, perhaps make more arrests.

Now, while they keep the three suspects in custody for three weeks -- for two weeks, they can continue to question them, after which time they will have to present their evidence, either ask the judge for more time or the judge will have to take the evidence that's there already so that they can go ahead and press charges. Formal charges believed to be the capital charges of kidnapping and murder.

Now, the suspects also complained, however, that authorities, investigators were pressing them, trying to coerce them to admit to the crimes and even to sign blank sheets of paper that perhaps could be used to write confessions on. The judge told the investigators back off, give these guys some air, don't press them. Go ahead with your investigation but don't coerce the suspects.

And now you might say, well, the chief suspect, the admitted mastermind, Sheikh Omar Saeed, well, he already admitted to it so why shouldn't he sign a confession? Well, he didn't admit to it under oath and that is why Omar Saeed is still refusing to sign something and that is why the judge says well, let him admit to it under oath. Otherwise, just take the evidence you have -- Paula.

ZAHN: It could be a long waiting game, couldn't it?

All right, Chris Burns, we're going to leave it there this morning.

Thanks so much for that update.

And joining us now for more on these new developments and whether or not Pearl's death could have been prevented, we go to CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen, who joins us from Washington this morning.

Welcome back, Peter.

PETER BERGEN, TERRORISM EXPERT: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: I'd love to work through this time line with you so you can help us better understand what the Pakistanis' role was at any particular time. Let's put up on the screen now what happened starting on January 9. The U.S. asked Pakistan to arrest the Sheikh. January 23, journalist Daniel Pearl abducted. Then on January 24, the FBI reports the Sheikh arrest request and actually informs President Musharraf of the kidnapping. February 12, Sheikh taken into custody. February 21, Pearl confirmed dead.

Did the Pakistani government do everything it could? BERGEN: Well, Paula, I think it's an interesting question. I think that, as you know, ISI, the International Services Intelligence, which is the military agency of Pakistan, has had quite close relationships with these various militant groups in Pakistan, including the Army of Mohammed, which is the group that Omar Sheikh belonged to.

I think that you will find as the investigation goes on that there were perhaps elements in the Pakistani government that were not only supporting the Army of Mohammed, but may have had some direct links with Omar Sheikh himself.

The Pakistan government, I think, on the other hand, in the person of General Musharraf, has certainly moved against these militant groups very strongly. He's arrested 2,000 people. He's disarmed a lot of these groups. Even before 9-11 he was moving against them.

But I think the problem is that you've got Musharraf doing one thing and perhaps members of his government doing other things, Paula.

ZAHN: Had President Musharraf been able to act faster do you think Daniel Pearl might be alive today? BERGEN: I think that's a very hard sort of difficult question to answer. I think that this group very carefully planned the abduction of Danny Pearl, who was a very cautious journalist who did not put himself in a situation that he thought was dangerous. The "New York Post" published some interesting e-mails that the group sent to Pearl and they were the kinds of letters that journalists get all the time from seemingly pleasant people.

He was duped and I, you know, whether the Pakistani government had arrested Sheikh earlier on, you know, perhaps that may have averted his abduction. But I think it's hard to blame them at this point for the abduction on that level.

ZAHN: All right, we appreciate your insights this morning.

Peter Bergen, thanks so much for joining us this morning on A.M. BERGEN: Thank you.

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