Kidnap Briton to go on trial for his life

A British militant goes on trial for his life in Pakistan tomorrow accused of the kidnap and murder of American reporter Daniel Pearl.

Fearing Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh’s accomplices might try to rescue him, officials have moved the trial to Karachi’s colonial era Central Prison.

Two high court judges today rejected a defence motion to move the venue to an open court.

Tonight, scores of police armed with assault rifles took up positions in the watch towers and gates of the prison. Paramilitary troops in vehicles mounted with machine guns patrolled the fences,

Saeed, 29, from Wanstead, east London, and three co-defendants are accused of murder, kidnapping and terrorism.

All four face the death penalty if convicted.

Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl disappeared in January while researching Pakistani extremists and their possible links to Richard Reid, the Londoner accused of being the transatlantic flight shoe bomber.

Public school educated Saeed, who dropped out of the London School of Economics, has long been associated with Islamic extremist movements and is believed to have trained at camps in Afghanistan.

He was arrested in India and spent five years in jail without charge. He was freed in December 1999 along with two other Islamic militants in exchange for passengers and crew of an Indian Airlines jet that was hijacked to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

During a pretrial hearing in February, Saeed admitted involvement in the kidnapping but later withdrew the statement, which was not made under oath.

The prosecution case relies heavily on the testimony of taxi driver Nasir Abbas, who told police he drove Pearl to a restaurant the night he disappeared and saw him shake hands with Saeed before getting into his car.