India on Thursday described the release of al-Qaida terrorist Omar Sheikh as a “travesty of justice” and said it truly demonstrated Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front. Sheikh was one of the terrorists freed by India to secure the release of passengers of flight IC-814 which was hijacked in 1999. “I had mentioned earlier about the very low conviction rate in Pakistan when it comes to sentencing of terror accused,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar Saeed Sheikh guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror. Our position on Pakistan taking sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action against terrorism and terrorist funding emanating from all territory under its control remains unchanged,” he said.
Before he was freed by Indian authorities, British-born Sheikh was serving a prison term in India for kidnapping western tourists in the country.
Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for Wall Street Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi in 2002. A graphic video showing Pearl’s decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi nearly a month after his abduction.
Pearl’s murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with JeM chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
White House outraged: The White House expressed outrage over the ruling. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the decision “an affront to terror victims everywhere.”