U.S. wants to prosecute militant in United States for Pearl kidnap-slaying

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials said Tuesday they want to prosecute detained Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the United States for the slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and are working with Pakistan to figure out how best to proceed.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that at a meeting between U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf: "We made clear again the United States’ desire to have (Saeed) sent to the United States."

However, Fleischer also showed deference toward Pakistan’s sovereign right to handle the case the way it sees fit.

"A crime, a murder was committed in their country, and they have their own ways and laws of dealing with it. It’s not atypical at a time like that, when another nation makes a request, for that request to be considered, and it takes time," Fleischer said.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Musharraf telephoned Secretary of State Colin Powell after seeing the U.S. ambassador.

"We want to see him in U.S. custody for the crimes he has committed against Americans," Boucher said of Saeed.

But Pakistani authorities also want to prosecute him, and the issue under discussion is finding the best way to proceed, Boucher said.

U.S. officials say they had requested Saeed’s extradition even before his name came up in connection with Pearl’s murder. A U.S. federal grand jury secretly indicted him in the 1994 kidnapping of four Westerners in India, including an American.

Chamberlin said she had discussed "rendering" Saeed to the United States — avoiding the word "extradition," which is a more complicated legal procedure.

Pakistan has extradited suspects to the United States before, but the issue is complicated — in part because there is no clear extradition treaty between Washington and Pakistan.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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