Omar Sheikh: Wanted dead and alive

Ironically, even as Islamabad’s military dictatorship tried Omar, it failed to try him. The trial court was riddled with inconsistencies that make an appeal to the superior courts probable on the basis of record.

Under Pakistan’s judicial system, the complainant in the case (in this case, the widow) must make an appearance before the court to lodge the complaint. Marianne Pearl was absent. A commission wasn’t set up to record her complaint in Paris.

Under Pakistani law, a dead body must be found to start a murder trial. Although a graphic video of the brutal slaying is available, Pearl’s body still hasn’t been recovered. Under current judicial procedures, Omar cannot be charged for the killing of a person whose body is yet to be recovered.

The crucial evidence linking Omar to the crime is the testimony of the taxi driver who took Pearl to a Karachi restaurant when he was last seen alive. The taxi driver’s evidence is uncorroborated. He admits that it was dark, thus opening the possibility of wrong recognition.

That the trial was held in camera and the presiding judges were changed thrice make the proceedings more doubtful. The one substantive link of Omar to the Pearl murder is his own confession. But that was never recorded. As far as the trial court record is concerned, it can either make a martyr of Omar or lead to his release once the case goes through the appeal process.

Omar’s fate lies less in the judicial field and more in the political. It’s a case of those who want him dead and those who want him alive.

Pakistan’s military dictator publicly declared that ‘‘I want the death sentence for Omar Sheikh’’.

Perhaps, he does. Omar knows too much about militants and militancy and their ties to hardliners. His extradition and revelations could help Islamabad clean up its own overly politicised military institutions. But that is clearly not on Musharraf’s agenda as he rides with the hounds and runs with the hares.

In the short term, the Omar sentencing gives hardliners a rallying point to galvanise supporters for greater activity in what is called ‘‘a decisive battle between Islam and the infidels’’.

Pearl was kidnapped when investigating links of the shoe bomber Richard Reid to a closed down shoe factory in Karachi. His kidnapping was uncovered with the support of the Federal Bureau of Investigation rather than authorities under the military regime. The FBI traced the e-mail messages announcing the Pearl kidnapping to an internet cafe. The arrest of its personnel led to other arrests.

Omar himself was never arrested. He turned himself in to a friend, an old intelligence hand. The home secretary Ejaz Shah also happens to be a close Musharraf friend. Both kept Omar’s arrest a secret from police investigators. And while Omar was in secret custody, the Musharraf regime claimed that India orchestrated the kidnapping. As the pressure for Omar’s arrest grew, the regime claimed it covered up the arrest (which until then was sanctuary) to exploit during Musharraf’s visit to Washington.

Musharraf trained as a commando. He can be genial unless angered. Then he speaks without thinking, rushing into the fire. It was one such occasion when he revealed his mind on the Pearl kidnapping. In an angry outburst, Musharraf claimed that Pearl tripped on ‘‘intelligence games’’ because he was ‘‘over inquisitive’’ which led to his kidnapping. This was skating on thin ice.

Omar’s country of citizenship, Britain, wants him alive. Britain knows that Omar is a goldmine of information on British and foreign personnel who joined up with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Moreover, the 1994 kidnappings of tourists in Kashmir included British citizens. Britain clearly has an interest in a living Omar, revealing the details.

Significantly, Omar’s death sentence was pronounced by the Pakistani court on Monday, just two days after militants staged yet another attack in Jammu, killing 28 civilians. And prior to the attack, the Pakistan Army announced a ten-day war game exercise.

The synchronisation of events between pressure on militants and tension with New Delhi is interesting. Last winter’s bombing of Tora Bora (where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was allegedly injured with shrapnel wounds) was diverted by the attack on the Indian Parliament. This spring’s offensive against Al Qaeda remnants in Pakistan’s untamed tribal region was diverted by an attack on the Indian army base housing families of soldiers in Kaluchak.

As Omar’s appeal process gets under way, the developments on the frontier, where one million Pakistani and Indian troops are on war alert, will be interesting.