Hindustan Times (Noida)

Blinken calls Qureshi, discusses Pearl’s case

- Yashwant Raj yashwant.raj@hindustant­imes.com

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday pressed his Pakistani counterpar­t Shah Mahmood Qureshi to ensure “accountabi­lity” for Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been convicted over the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

Omar Sheikh is set to be released after Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld his acquittal by a lower court in a verdict that sparked outrage in the US.

Blinken and Qureshi spoke for the first time on Friday after the Biden administra­tion took office.

They “discussed how to ensure accountabi­lity for convicted terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and others responsibl­e for the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl”, the US state department said in a readout of their call. Blinken reinforced this message on Twitter.

At the UN, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the secretary general, had a similar message for Pakistan when asked about the case. “I don’t have a comment on the specific case... What is important is that there be accountabi­lity for those crimes committed,” he said.

Pearl, who was South Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi in 2002.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India