Pearl Murder: Four Charged

Four Islamist militants were formally charged with the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan earlier today.

A Pakistani prosecutor presented charges of murder, kidnapping and terrorism against British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three alleged accomplices.

The trial is set to begin on March 29 after a judge has reviewed the evidence.

Seven others, who remain at large, were also accused in the prosecutor's indictment.

Mr Sheikh, an Islamist militant born and educated in Britain, is the key suspect in the kidnapping of Pearl in Karachi on January 23.

He confessed during a court session last month that he abducted Pearl, but has since withdrawn the statement, which was not made under oath and is considered inadmissible.

The case against Mr Sheikh relies heavily on the testimony of taxi driver Nasir Abbas, who told police he drove Pearl to a restaurant and saw him shake hands with the suspect before getting into a car with him.

The three other suspects - Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Mohammed Adeel and Salman Saqib - were arrested on January 30.

Prosecutors have linked them to emails announcing the American's death. Mr Adeel and Mr Sheikh appeared in court; Mr Naseem and Mr Saqib were not present.

"We have circumstantial evidence and also the videotape of Daniel Pearl's murder," said the prosecutor, Raja Quereshi. "We will present that too, as evidence."

In February a videotape received by the US consulate in Karachi confirmed Pearl had been killed.

A US federal grand jury charged Mr Sheikh of Pearl's kidnap earlier this month. Since it resulted in the reporter's death, he could face the death penalty if brought to the US and convicted.

The US indictment alleges that Mr Sheikh trained at Afghan military camps and also fought with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters last September and October.

Pearl, the Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped when examining links between Pakistani extremists and the so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who was arrested in December on a Paris-Miami flight he is alleged to have boarded with explosives in his trainers.