Skip to main content
CNN.com /TRANSCRIPTS

CNN TV
EDITIONS





CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

U.S. Pushes For Extradition of Omar Saeed Sheikh

Aired February 27, 2002 - 05:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the United States is pushing Pakistan to extradite the prime suspect in the killing of American reporter Daniel Pearl.

CNN's Chris Burns is live in Karachi this morning with the latest -- good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, the latest word here, there was a telephone threat against authorities here who are investigating the kidnap slaying of Daniel Pearl. The caller claiming to be part of the same group that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, saying they want those extradition proceedings efforts to stop and if not, then they will either bomb or rocket an office belonging to the investigators here, the Pakistani investigators.

This, of course, comes a day after a meeting, a key meeting in Islamabad between President Pervez Musharraf and the U.S. ambassador, Wendy Chamberlain, where they did discuss extradition efforts. Wendy Chamberlain walked out of it, ending after the meeting saying that she was, in her words, "not disappointed" by what Mr. Musharraf said.

And, according to the "New York Times," Musharraf agreed, in principle, to eventually extradite the key suspect, that being Omar Saeed Sheikh, the man who has admitted that he was very much behind that January 23 kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist.

However, there are, we must caution that this extradition may not come very soon. That, according to our sources, the intent is for the investigation to continue. They do, and very much would, like to find the body of Daniel Pearl, the murder weapon and more suspects to build their case. In the meantime, they would like that Omar Saeed remain in Pakistan during that period, perhaps even through a trial, after which he may be extradited to the United States.

Another sort of footnote here, very important to keep track of, is that Omar Saeed may have dual nationality. He is British born, may also be Pakistani. And that may also enter into the equation. If he is only British, that could mean that he would have to -- he may have to be extradited to Britain. However, it does appear that he probably does have Pakistani nationality, which would mean he is mainly subject to Pakistani law and legal procedures -- Carol. COSTELLO: Any way you look at it, this is not going to be an easy task. You know, one more thing I wanted to ask you about, you interviewed Mariane Pearl yesterday, and we want to play a snippet of that interview right now because it was just so moving. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIANE PEARL, WIFE OF DANIEL PEARL: The goal of terrorism is to input terror in people. If we, I know, and that's like a personal thing I'll share with you, but it's personal conviction, you know, and that's why I'm sitting here with you, is I know Danny has not been defeated by the people who killed him. His spirit, his faith, his conviction have not been defeated, you know? And I'm extremely proud of him, you know? The only thing, I'm not going to, I don't even want to address the people who support, you know, I mean whatever, you know? What I'm saying is that if people do not let terror, you know, get in their heart and they react, you know, and they realize the real nature of the terrorism, then they'll be defeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chris, what strikes me is she's so incredibly strong. Where is she drawing that strength from?

BURNS: Really incredible. She is a journalist herself. Probably to be the wife of a journalist who does this sort of reporting, travels around, has to be strong to do that, to cope with that kind of life. And the fact that she wants to go on and sort of carry the torch, bringing the message that not only do militants have to be addressed, the problem of militant activity, but also the symptom -- the causes of that, which are much broader and much deeper, such as poverty, such as lack of education. Those things also need to be addressed.

So she's going to be very busy in the future, she says, in doing that, as well as raising her child. She's seven months pregnant -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. She's going to have a baby boy, right? A baby boy?

BURNS: That's right.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Chris Burns reporting live for us from Pakistan this morning.

One more note on the Pearl investigation. CNN's Connie Chung has viewed the videotape of Pearl's final words and his killing. Her exclusive report airs on "AMERICAN MORNING" two hours from now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





 
 
 
 


 Search   

Back to the top