I killed Pearl, claims terrorist

Posted by Draving on 03/16/07 in General News

KHALID Shaikh Mohammed may have exaggerated his role in the 31 terrorist plots he claims to have been responsible for, according to US officials.

The 42-year-old Pakistani — who has been in US custody for four years told a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that he bore responsibility for a host of attacks since 1993, including the September 11, 2001, attack on New York and Washington as well as the Bali bombings.

But US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, doubted that the al-Qa’ida third-in-command had a pivotal role in all the plots, although they concede he may have had some knowledge of them.

Mohammed, who will eventually face the death penalty, made startling admissions to the military tribunal evaluating his status as an enemy combatant last weekend.

A transcript of his hearing was released this week by the Pentagon.

Part of the testimony, which was initially censored, involved an admission by Mohammed that he personally beheaded Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.

The Pentagon withheld the testimony — because of its graphic nature — for 24 hours to allow time for Pearl’s family to be notified.

"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Mohammed is quoted as saying.

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

Mohammed insisted that Pearl — a well-regarded reporter who was researching an article about Islamic extremists — was a CIA agent but later said that al-Qa’ida believed the son of an Israeli professor was instead working for Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.

A video was released on the internet showing a man holding Pearl’s head.

The face of the man is blacked out.

Pakistani intelligence sources have maintained they believe that Mohammed was responsible and the country’s president, Pervez Musharraf, wrote in his memoirs last year that he believed Mohammed lured Pearl to Karachi in 2002, had him kidnapped and then decapitated him.

Musharraf wrote that Pearl was beheaded by an "Arab looking" man.

"When we later arrested and interrogated him, he admitted his participation," Pakistan’s leader wrote.

But the parents of Pearl said yesterday it was "impossible to know" the identity of their son’s killer.

Ruth and Judea Pearl said in a statement issued from their home in California that "we prefer to focus our energy on continuing Danny’s life work through the programs of the Daniel Pearl Foundation which aim to eradicate the hatred that took his life".

The foundation aims to bring cultural understanding and peace.

Pearl, 38, was kidnapped in Karachi on January 23, 2002.

A film based on his death — starring Angelina Jolie as his six-month pregnant French wife, Mariane — is due to be released later this year.

US officials suspect Mohammed is trying to take responsibility for virtually all terrorist actions since 1993 in order to spare some of his fellow detainees in Cuba.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au

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