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| Terror Networks |
| Pearl Case: Pak cops hot on the trail of Siddiqui. Yup. |
| 2002-02-17 |
Hasnain, a militant of the Harkat-al-Mujahedin group, is one of those who hijacked an Indian Airlines jet in December 1999 and forced New Delhi to release three militants -- including Omar and Azhar. Police believe Pearl met both Omar and Hasnain after they promised him they could arrange an interview with the head of a group linked to al Qaida cells in North America and Europe. Omar told his interrogators he shaved his beard and put on dark glasses to meet Pearl in room 114 of the Akbar International Hotel in Rawalpindi. "It was a great meeting. We ordered cold coffee and club sandwiches and had great chit chat," one Pakistani newspaper quoted Omar as telling interrogators. "We had nothing personal against Daniel." While Omar financed and masterminded the kidnap, it was Hasnain, using the alias Imitiaz Siddiqui, who met Pearl in Karachi. Deputy Police Chief Tariq Jamil, who was sitting in his office with Pearl, heard the reporter taking telephone calls on his cell phone from a man named Siddiqui the same day he went missing. Seems like Chief Arbuckle's investigation keeps coming back to those involved in the Kandahar hijacking, either as hijackers or as those sprung. There were five of the former, three of the latter, and so far we have fingers pointing at three of the eight. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |