22 February 2002

U.S. Condemns Murder of Reporter Daniel Pearl

The U.S. government condemns the murder of reporter Daniel Pearl who was abducted in Pakistan while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said February 22.

"The murder of Daniel Pearl is an absolute outrage, and we condemn it unequivocally. Both the United States and Pakistan are committed to identifying the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice," Boucher said at his daily media briefing in Washington.

Boucher praised the Pakistani government for its cooperation in the search for Pearl after his abduction.

"[E]very possible agency of the Pakistani government has been involved, and we felt the cooperation was excellent," Boucher said.

Pearl was abducted on January 23.

Following is an excerpt from Boucher's February 22 briefing containing his comments about the Pearl murder:

Mr. Boucher: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here. If I can at the top, I'd like to reiterate some of the points we made yesterday about the death of Daniel Pearl, and then add a little information to that.

The murder of Daniel Pearl is an absolute outrage, and we condemn it unequivocally. Both the United States and Pakistan are committed to identifying the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice, and we'll continue to work closely with Pakistani authorities, who have provided excellent cooperation in this investigation all along.

We also welcome President Musharraf's statement directing Pakistani authorities to redouble their efforts to apprehend all those involved in Mr. Pearl's abduction and murder. The President, the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary, the entire U.S. Government are committed to the goal of bringing the people to justice who did this horrible crime.

Deputy Secretary Armitage talked to Mrs. Pearl this morning on the telephone. On behalf of the Secretary, of himself and all of us here at the State Department, he expressed our condolences and our deepest sympathy for her loss. He expressed the sympathy and condolences both to her and to the child that they are expecting. He said we would provide any and every possible assistance to her, and he stated very clearly to her, as I have to you, the commitment to bring to justice the people who are responsible for this horrible action.

So with that, on the major issue of the day, I think, I would be glad to take your questions on this or other matters.

Question: Well, was any assistance requested?

Mr. Boucher: I think they discussed some of the areas with her where we might be helpful, obviously from a consular point of view and just anything we can do for the family. But I don't have any details for you at this point.

Question: Richard, are you in a position where you can go anywhere beyond what you said, the very little you said yesterday, about the evidence that you have?

Mr. Boucher: No, I'm not. And I'm not on the telephone. If anybody wants to call me later and ask the same question in private, I'm not going to do it there either. We have evidence that Mr. Pearl is dead. It's clear to us, but the nature of that evidence, how we acquired it, things like that I'm afraid we're not in a position to say.

Question: Will the United States seek the extradition of this Saeed person on the grounds of a terrorist act against an American citizen?

Mr. Boucher: That remains a matter related to the investigation, and I'm afraid I'm just not prepared to -- I'm not in a position to talk about it.

Question: (Inaudible) kind of technical aspect of the investigation, are there more or less or the same number of FBI people over there or State Department people in Karachi, or in Pakistan in general? Has this -- the confirmation of his death in any way changed -- well, it's obviously changed some of the nature of the investigation, but has it changed the U.S. component?

Mr. Boucher: I, frankly, don't know. I can't answer that one for you.

Question: Richard, just in a more general way, when President Musharraf was in Washington recently, he spoke at least I would say somewhat confidently that this might end up obviously much better. Has any thought been given to what's happened or what might have happened, what people did or didn't do in that timeframe, that it's turned out this way?

Mr. Boucher: The question that you're asking, I guess, is one to reflect on over a longer period of time. It's not the question of when Mr. -- when we have evidence that people have committed a horrible crime against Danny Pearl. The issue for us is getting the people who did it. And that is the commitment of the administration. That's what we're all working on now.

I don't think that there is any particular issue to reflect upon at this moment, frankly. I think that we have felt that the U.S. Government has done everything possible. The Pakistani Government mobilized a very intense and aggressive investigation of the matter. Until all the facts are known, I would say it's not time to start claiming that something that somebody said, or did or didn't do, resulted in Mr. Pearl's death, frankly.

Question: Richard, can you say whether possible extradition is on a list of possible actions that you might take?

Mr. Boucher: No.

Question: Are you all --

Mr. Boucher: I can't say whether it's possibly possible. I'm sorry.

Question: Are you all creating a list? I mean, there must be someone who is thinking about what your options are to bring these people to justice.

Mr. Boucher: There's a lot of work going on to make sure that it happens, and there's a lot of determination to make sure that we bring these people to justice. And it starts at the highest levels of the administration. But there is also a lot of caution about what we say in public to make sure that we're not inadvertently divulging information or tipping our hand or otherwise making life more difficult for those many people in law enforcement agencies and in the Pakistani Government, Pakistani law enforcement agencies as well, who are going to work on this.

. . . .

Question: Richard, I'd like to return to the Pearl case, if I could. I recognize that you've said that the State Department believes that General Musharraf has done everything he can and you're very pleased with the cooperation you've gotten, but is the State Department confident that members of the intelligence services, the ISI, or other perhaps members of the government, not necessarily in General Musharraf's cabinet, might have been involved in this case or might have been in some way or another helping the kidnappers?

Mr. Boucher: The investigation that was conducted in Pakistan was a joint investigation with all the different agencies, all the different capabilities that they could bring to bear on the situation. It involved their law enforcement -- it involves their law enforcement people, their intelligence services, a whole variety of people, and is motivated by the strong commitment and backing the president himself. We have seen a full-fledged, full-bore investigation. We would expect to continue to see that. That's what President Musharraf has promised again. And we would expect that to continue.

Question: Okay, but that wasn't my question. Are you confident that the ISI or any members of the intelligence --

Mr. Boucher: I'm confident that they're an important part of the investigation and that they've been an active and positive player in the whole matter.

Question: But would you rule out the fact that members of the ISI might have been involved in this in some way, shape, or form?

Mr. Boucher: I can't rule out that Martians were involved. I mean, I have to -- I don't want to be facetious on this, but you're asking me to speak for every member of a foreign government organization. I don't do that, whatever the question is. And I can tell you, on the positive side, on the factual side, not to speculate on this, that, or the other, but on the factual side, that every possible agency of the Pakistani government has been involved, and we felt the cooperation was excellent.

Question: For the past two days you were put in kind of an odd position. I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on it, maybe on a personal level or as a spokesman -- on one day, on Wednesday, having to -- coming out and, you know, announcing the new guidelines for your policy on abductions, and then 24 hours later having to confirm this death. Anything you would care to say about that?

Mr. Boucher: I guess the simple answer is no. The connection between the two -- first of all, there's no direct --

Question: (Off mike.)

Mr. Boucher: I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

Question: (Off mike.)

Mr. Boucher: There's no direct connection between the announcement of the policy and the fact that we have -- now have evidence Mr. Pearl was killed. The connection between the two, if any -- the logical connection between the two is that the circumstances in which Mr. Pearl found himself and his subsequent death make absolutely clear why this new policy -- why the policy of the United States has to be to look into every hostage-taking situation, to deal seriously with every hostage situation and mobilize every appropriate means to resolve these situations, and to make sure that there's no benefit from taking of hostages, so that there's no encouragement to others to take hostages in the future.

I -- it's absolutely sad -- tragic Mr. Pearl was killed. And I don't want to use him to sort of justify a policy. But the connection between the two is that it's absolutely essential that we do everything we can to deal with the hostage-taking that goes on and in every appropriate manner.

Question: Richard, don't you think everybody, at least in this building, was doing everything they could?

Mr. Boucher: Oh, yeah. When we talked about the policy on Wednesday, I said it was a restatement of a long-standing policy with some minor adjustments. (Inaudible) -- been the right policy for a long time and one that we've been acting on for a long time.

Howard?

Question: Richard, shortly before President Musharraf came here, he was quoted as speculating that perhaps the Indian government was involved in the Pearl kidnapping. Does that kind of speculation give you any pause in terms of your confidence that he and his government are going to be aggressive in resolving this case?

Mr. Boucher: I don't think we are in a position to speculate on the effect of the speculation. I'll tell you the facts as we have known them. And that is, the Pakistani government has run a full-bore investigation, that we have had excellent cooperation with them, that we expect that to continue and that we know that they are committed, as we are, from the highest levels on down, to bringing the perpetrators to justice.