Pakistan's ISI kept information about Daniel Pearl's death secret from General Pervez Musharraf, says Newsweek. After Omar Saeed Sheikh turned himself over to ISI on February 5, he told them Pearl's captors had sent him a coded message that Pearl had been murdered. But the ISI instead told Musharraf that Pearl "would be rescued shortly." Musharraf did not mention that Sheikh was in custody when he visited the US soon afterwards. But he did say he was "reasonably certain" Pearl was alive. Newsweek quotes police saying, "The ISI never shared with us any information about what Saeed told them." The article says "that missing week may have sabotaged the investigations." Musharraf was described as humiliated and angry.
That happens when you've got an organization that considers itself as above or apart from the state. Musharraf can be as humiliated and angry as he pleases, and if he does nothing to correct the situation, the next time something awful happens he'll be treated with just as much casual contempt. |