Pearl's Widow Sues Major Pakistan Bank
The widow of a Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and murdered in Pakistan by terrorists in 2002 has sued his alleged killers, al-Qaida, and Pakistan’s biggest bank in federal court in New York.
In a complaint filed today, Mariane Pearl, a French citizen, and her husband’s estate contend that Habib Bank Ltd. of Karachi knowingly helped al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, reports the Associated Press.
Aided by the bank, terrorists “carried out the kidnapping, ransom, torture, execution and dismemberment of Daniel Pearl and broadcast those images nationwide,” the suit says. It contends the bank “maintained accounts for the Al Rashid Trust, one of whose trustees owned the property where Mr. Pearl’s body was found and allegedly participated in his kidnapping,” reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
Pearl’s beheading was videotaped and broadcast on the Internet. In a written statement, his widow says she hopes the suit will help investigators find out more about what happened, and “bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture and murder.”
