Sheikh Omar denies hand in Pearl’s murder

Omar, 28, the chief accused, also disowned a statement he made in Karachi in February, while Pearl was still missing, that the Wall Street Journal correspondent was already dead.

‘‘That was not a confessional statement, it was not a statement under oath, and any statement without oath even before a judge is not admissible and that should be discarded,’’ Qureshi quoted Omar as telling the closed court in a jail here.

However Qureshi added that Omar ‘‘did not basically deny that he had made that statement.’’ Omar answered 28 questions from the judge and then submitted a six-page written statement to the court.

‘‘The posture of his entire statement was of denial and that he had not been involved in the commissioning of the crime,’’ Qureshi said. Defence lawyer Rai Bashir said Omar told the court the charges against him were ‘‘baseless’’.