Pearl murder trial to be conducted in jail

The trial of a British-born Islamic militant and three alleged accomplices for the kidnap and murder a US journalist will take place in jail, Pakistani judges ruled today.

Two high court judges in Karachi dismissed an appeal by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three co-defendants, for their trial over the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl to be held in open court.

The trial is expected to begin tomorrow. Lawyers for the four had argued that a closed trial would violate Pakistani law.

Pakistani officials cited security concerns in their decision to hold the trial in Karachi’s Central Jail rather than transfer the defendants to and from court.

Authorities have deployed scores of police and armoured personnel carriers to previous hearings for Saeed, from Wanstead, east London, and the other three men, fearing that their accomplices would stage attacks in an effort to free them.

Pearl disappeared on January 23 while en route to a meeting with Islamic militant contacts in Karachi. His body has not been found, but a video-tape received by US diplomats in February confirmed the 38-year-old journalist was dead.

Saeed is accused of masterminding the kidnapping. The other three defendants - Salman Saqib, Fahad Naseem and Sheikh Mohammed Adeel - allegedly sent e-mails to Pakistani and Western news organizations announcing Pearl’s abduction. Seven other suspects remain at large.

A US federal grand jury indicted Saeed last month in the Pearl case. A sealed indictment charging him with kidnapping an American in India in 1994 was also made public.

Pakistani authorities said they would prosecute Saeed first before deciding whether to hand him over to the US.

Pearl was researching links between Pakistani extremists and Briton Richard Reid, who was arrested in December on a flight from Paris to Miami as he was allegedly trying to detonate explosives in his shoes.