Daniel Pearl :: essays research papers

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Intensive negotiations are under way with Pakistan for the extradition to the United States of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the top suspect in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, the White House said Monday. Other government officials said that federal prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington are working on bringing criminal charges in the case. But officials refused to comment on how soon a grand jury might bring any indictments. Asked Monday if the United States is interested in bringing a criminal case against Sheikh, President Bush said, "We're always interested in dealing with people who have harmed American citizens." White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said that the United States "would very much like to get our hands on Omar Sheikh and anyone else responsible for the killing of Daniel Pearl," noting that Pakistan is a sovereign nation and will continue its judicial process. "We will work closely with Pakistan to try to achieve that outcome of bringing them to the U.S.," Fleischer said. A Pakistani Embassy official in Washington, Asad Hayauddin, said that the two countries are engaged in discussions about the issue. Hayauddin said he doesn't know the status of the talks, adding that "Pakistan has always cooperated in bringing people to justice if required" and if there's a legal justification for a transfer of a suspect to U.S. custody. The United States signed an extradition treaty with Pakistan in 1931, and it went into effect in 1942, when Pakistan was under British control, Fleischer said. Hayauddin said that treaty was used to extradite Ramzi Youssef, convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Mir Amil Kasi, convicted in the 1993 shooting deaths of two CIA employees, from Pakistan. Bush expressed satisfaction with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his government's handling of the Pearl case. "I could tell from the tone of his voice how distraught he was, how disturbed he was that this barbaric act had taken place in his country," Bush said, referring to a recent phone call from Musharraf. "He knew full well that those killers did not represent the vast majority of the people in his own country, and he vowed to me on the phone that he would do everything in his power to chase down the killers and bring them to justice." U.S. indicted suspect last year