[EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this article cited a report from The Guardian alleging Dennis Lormel confirmed a transfer of funds from Omar Saeed Shiekh to Mohammed Atta. Lormel's testimony at the time only mentioned a $100,000 dollar transfer and never named any speciifc indiviudals. This article has now been corrected. A full update on this story will soon be available. --DB]
After four and a half years of delays, a Pakistani court has once again resumed hearing the appeals of four men convicted for the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
In 2002, the 9/11 ‘paymaster,’ Omar Sheikh, was sentenced to death for Pearl’s execution, while three others were sentenced to life in prison.
Omar, a suspected CIA asset who reportedly wired at least $100,000 to Mohammed Atta prior to 9/11, has never been charged for his alleged role in the terrorist attacks but has become infamous for his role in the Pearl case.
Omar’s appeal has been adjourned more than thirty times since 2002, but in the wake of new revelations by Pakistan’s President, Pervez Musharraf, Omar may finally be cleared of Pearl’s death.
In his recently released memoirs President Musharraf writes, "The man who may have actually killed Pearl or at least participated in his butchery, we eventually discovered, was none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's number three. When we later arrested and interrogated him, he admitted his participation."
"After reading the book [by President Musharraf], if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my arguments in favor of my client,” Omar’s lawyer, Rai Bashir, told Reuters in late September. “It can be used as evidence," he said.
Ironically, in 2002, while Omar’s trial was still underway, Musharraf publicly expressed his desire to see Omar put to death, leading Omar’s attorneys to file a contempt of court application against the Pakistani President.
Musharraf also banned all interrogations of Omar in an apparent attempt to cover up Omar’s connections to Pakistan’s intelligence agency the ISI.
Omar admittedly orchestrated attacks on behalf of the ISI, and served as an intermediary between the agency and al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
General Mahmud Ahmed reportedly ordered Omar Sheikh to wire $100,000 to the 9/11 hijackers in September of 2000.
General Mahmud was in Washington on 9/11 meeting with U.S. intelligence officials, and coincidently, several members of the Pakistani government believe Omar Sheikh’s true power “comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA.”
While attending the London School of Economics in the early 1990s, the British-born Omar Sheikh was reportedly recruited by the CIA and MI6 for operations in Bosnia, and was later sent to join the jihad in Kosovo. Omar was even offered a passport by the British government in January of 2000, less than two years prior to the 9/11 attacks.
Omar’s links to 9/11, the ISI, and Western intelligence agencies have gone drastically underreported in the mainstream media, and neither Omar nor his former boss at the ISI, General Mahmud Ahmed, have been charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks.
Omar's lawyers expressed optimistism following the first day of this week's proceedings. "I am confident that the appeal against the verdict will be accepted and the accused will be free," Defense counsel Khwaja Sultan told reporters.
Coincidently, in 2002, despite facing a possible death sentence, Omar seemed “confident, even cocky,” Newsweek reported. At the time, Omar told interrogators that he expected to serve no more than “three or four years” in prison.
Update: Convicted Pearl killer's appeal adjourned again
