Lawyer To Appeal Pearl Killer Conviction

(AP)  The lawyer for a man convicted of killing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl said Sunday he will file an appeal using an al Qaeda lieutenant's recent confession that he beheaded the reporter.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has claimed that he planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, claimed at a U.S. military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he personally beheaded Pearl for being an Israeli intelligence agent.

"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Mohammed told a military panel, according to a Pentagon transcript released Thursday. "For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."

In 2002, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born militant, to death and gave three other men life in prison for involvement in Pearl's killing.

Rai Bashir, a lawyer for Sheikh and the other three men said on Sunday that he will study the Pentagon documents on Mohammed's claim and file his confession as evidence to prove Sheikh's innocence.

"He has not abducted Daniel Pearl, and he, along with his co-accused, is innocent ... But now we are happy that this version has been verified by the Pentagon after the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed," Bashir told AP Television News in a separate interview on Saturday.

Pearl was abducted in January 2002 in Karachi while he was researching a story on Islamic militancy. Months after his abduction, the journalist's body, his throat slit, was found in a shallow ditch in a compound on the outskirts of the city.

Sheikh and the three others — Salman Saqib, Fahad Naseem and Sheikh Adil — are in jail and have appealed their convictions.

"What we were saying for so many years in our trial, in the appeal, (is) that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is innocent and he has not committed that murder," Bashir said in the interview from the eastern city of Lahore.

[moo6robe]

as a lawyer u rep a person that is happy about a kill and u want him freeded u need to face a rep of yoyr client they will cut you off I pray for your redemtion

[patriotic9]

"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Mohammed told a military panel, according to a Pentagon transcript released Thursday.

Anybody who has studied RADICAL ISLAM can easily figure out that these can not be the words of a RADICAL ISLAMIST like "KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMAD.

In the ISLAMIC FAITH, it is not allowed for a believer to use good words for him or herself like"I did such a great job" or "I decapicated with MY BLESSED RIGHT HAND".In their RADICAL FAITH,how good people's deed are,they are not supposed to have any feeling of SUPERIORITY about themselves or about their deed,rather they have to give all the credits to their God "ALLAH" for their Good deeds.If somebody use great words for himself or even feel great about his deeds,not only his deeds get washed out but it's a sin in their faith.
KHALID SHAEIKH MOHAMMED already had so many charges like 9/11 planning,etc.
If this is a false accusation against him and these words are actually not his own words,US has only helped the SUSPECT "AHMED OMAR SAEED SHEIKH" in proven "NOT GUILTY" and released from the prison(who might be the real culprit).

[sentinel77]

It does not matter if he did the murder or not. He is a Muslim terrorist intent on destroying us. Throw him into a pit of hungry pigs and lets see if he makes it to the side of Allah.

[wogerwabbit]

Another "Mission Accomplished"

The leaders of our country are delusional if they think we believe anything they say anymore.

Fool me once...

[l8c6]

So I guess the moral of the story is no matter how many times you zap someone or beat them with a stick, saying it's so isn't what it takes to make it so.

[micma-2009]

What a relief to finaly know who killed JFK! It was KSM behind the grassy knoll.

A few more electric shocks and maybe some waterboarding and he'll admit to killing Jesus too.

[nishaboston]

Anyone who believes this bogus confession needs serious help. It is so obvious the guy is lying. What does he have to lose he is being held in a US prison, probably being tortured and will never leave prison for his whole life.

newster1 wrote:

"The guy is a liar and as a result it's possible the real killers already sentenced could go free."

And that is the real problem with torturing people - they'll admit to absolutely everything that is asked of them - whether they are guilty or not.

I'm surprised he hasn't admitted to assassinating JFK.

[nothappyatall]

""For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."


"the journalist's body, his throat slit, was found in a shallow ditch in a compound on the outskirts of the city "


So WHICH version is it?? his "throat SLIT" does not jive with "holding his head [decapitated in pictures on the net]"

The guy is a liar and as a result it's possible the real killers already sentenced could go free.