World condemns murder
WASHINGTON- The 29-day search for US reporter Daniel Pearl that ended overnight with the emergence of a gruesome video of his beheading, was one of the biggest manhunts in Pakistan’s history.
The gruesome murder was condemned by world leaders and termed it as a ‘savage and cruel act of terrorism’.
France’s President Jacques Chirac sent a message of condolence to the French wife of Daniel Pearl.
‘It is with the greatest sadness that I have learned of the tragic death of your husband … while he was carrying out his work as a journalist with great skill and courage,’ Chirac said in a letter addressed to Mariane Pearl.
“We are dismayed by the announcement of the death of Daniel Pearl. We send our sincere condolences to his wife and family,” deputy foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in a statement.
Mariane Pearl, a French citizen, is seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child. She was in Pakistan awaiting news of her husband when a video tape showing his murder was delivered to the US embassy there.
Earlier the French foreign ministry had issued a condemnation of the murder.
The German government said Friday it was “deeply upset” by news of the murder of Pearl and had transmitted its sympathies to his family and employers. “The government will continue to press within the United Nations and other consultative forums to make working conditions safer for journalists working abroad,” it said.
CHINA: Beijing said Friday it was shocked at the slaying of Daniel Pearl and said the country deplored such ‘terrorist’ acts.
‘I’ve heard of the news. Myself, I am greatly shocked at the news. China has all along deplored such violence and terrorist activities,Â’ foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference.
Pakistani authorities have detained British-born Islamic militant, Sheikh Omar, who told a court last week he was behind the kidnapping and that Pearl was dead.
EU: The European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Friday expressed ‘shock and sadness’ at the slaying of Daniel Pearl.
‘I am shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Daniel Pearl,’ Solana said in a statement.
‘I extend my condolences to his wife, his family and his colleagues,’ he said. ‘Those who have perpetrated this barbaric murder have further damanged the cause they claim to promote.’
ANNAN: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan late Thursday was ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of Daniel Pearl, his spokesman said in a statement.
‘The Secretary-General was deeply saddened by reports of the death of journalist Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal. He extends personal condolences to Mr. Pearl’s wife, family, colleagues and all others touched by this loss,’ the statement said.
Annan said Pearl’s murder ‘highlights yet again the enormous dangers encountered by journalists, particularly in areas of conflict and violence.’
‘The Secretary-General salutes the courage of Mr. Pearl and his colleagues around the world, and reiterates his long-standing commitment to the right of journalists to carry out their vital work without fearing for their security, freedom or life.’
INDIA: New Delhi on Friday condemned the killing of Daniel Pearl terming it ‘a crime and an act of terror.’
‘It is a tragedy,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said.
Pearl’s ‘murder is a crime and an act of terror that we wholeheartedly condemn,’ Rao said.
The ‘brutal and senseless murder’ had again ‘drawn attention to the criminal forces of terror that continue to operate on Pakistani territory and who continue to pursue their agenda of mindless violence and hatred and who have received support and safe haven in Pakistan,’ she alleged.
Rao said the killing proved beyond doubt ‘that there is a problem in Pakistan … that rooting out of the problem has not been completed,’ Rao said.
AMNESTY: Human rights watchdog Amnesty International Friday condemned the killing of Daniel Pearl as a crime against humanity.
‘The kidnapping and murder of a journalist, or of any citizen, violates the most fundamental principles of humanity,’ Amnesty said in a statement received here.
‘Those responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl must be brought to justice.’
The taking and killing of hostages is prohibited in all circumstances under international law, it said.
UNESCO: The director general of the United Nations cultural organisation (UNESCO) on Friday condemned the murder as ‘a shocking act of barbarism’.
‘This gruesome crime is especially repugnant in view of the motives that appear to have driven its perpetrators: the fact that Daniel Pearl was an investigative reporter seeking to shed light on an important story of international concern, the fact he was a US citizen and the fact he was a Jew,’ Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement.
Matsuura welcomed a promise by Pakistani authorities that they would catch Pearl’s killers and said UNESCO would continue to campaign for press freedom.
WSJ: The slaying of Daniel Pearl was an unjustified act of ‘barbarism’ that will not benefit the militants who carried it out, the Wall Street Journal, Pearl’s employer, said Friday.
‘His death is an act of barbarism for its own evil sakeÂ’ that serves as a terrible reminder ‘that evil still stalks this world.’
‘We are heartsick at his loss,’ the daily said in its editorial.
The Wall Street Journal was in communication with Pearl’s murderers since his kidnapping in Karachi on January 23.
Despite the paperÂ’s assurances that he was not a CIA agent, and efforts made by the United States and Pakistan to secure his release, a video of Pearl’s execution was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi Thursday.
‘There is of course no rational justification for this sort of nihilism,’ the Journal said, warning Pearl’s murderers that his death would not further their goals.
‘Instead it will bring only shame to all genuine Pakistani patriots, and contempt from all civilised corners of the world,’ the daily added.
‘The killers of Danny Pearl may think they will intimidate American journalists into retreating from their job of reporting on the world. They will discover that they are equally mistaken,’ the Journal said.
NYT: The New York Times called Pearl’s murder ‘a senseless act … ultimately self-defeating for those responsible.’
‘The terrible irony of Mr. Pearl’s murder,’ the Times said, is that he was trying to find out the mindset, motives and grievances of the Islamic fundamentalists in the wake of the attacks of September 11 and the war in Afghanistan.
‘That work will continue despite the killing, but the kidnappers have only undermined their cause by their acts,’ the Times said.
The Times called on President Pervez Musharraf to capture Pearl’s murderers and bring them to justice.
‘The killing of Danny Pearl reinforces the urgency of General Musharraf’s effort to turn Pakistan away from radical Islamic fundamentalism,’ the Times added.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/23/2002
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