Widow of Slain Journalist Sues Charities, Bank
July 19, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
An outlawed Pakistani charity and its successor are among those named in a lawsuit filed by the widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl for their alleged role in his torture and death, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Treasury Department and the United Nations assert that the Al-Rashid Trust, now defunct, and Al-Akhtar International, Al-Rashid’s successor, were proxies for Al Qaeda. Ms. Pearl is also suing Habib Bank in the complaint, claiming the bank “knowingly conducted financial transactions on behalf of these charities, knowing they were supporting terrorist groups,” according to Mariane Pearl’s lawsuit.
Her husband, then the South Asia bureau chief for the Journal, was beheaded in 2002 by Al Qaeda operatives. His body was found on property owned by Al-Akhtar International.
Habib Bank denies knowing anything about the groups’ activities. Al-Akhtar says it is not linked to terrorists.
Pakistan has frozen the organization’s accounts and assets.
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