Prosecution in Pearl murder case won't use widow as witness

HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- Prosecutors said Wednesday they hoped to wrap up their case this week against four Islamic militants charged in the slaying of Daniel Pearl, after deciding to drop the Wall Street Journal reporter's widow as a witness.

Chief Prosecutor Raja Quereshi said he decided not to pursue Mariane Pearl's testimony after her attorney filed a statement in court saying she would be unable to travel to London or Pakistan for medical reasons.

Her attorney did not elaborate on her condition. Pearl, 38, gave birth to her first child, Adam, a week ago in Paris, where the French free-lance journalist lives. She earlier said she was willing to testify as long as her doctors approved the trip.

The prosecution has been trying to speed up the case, dropping 13 other witnesses last month because of potential legal complications arising from the discovery of a dismembered body May 17 in Karachi believed to be Daniel Pearl's.

Final witness to appear

The trial, which began April 22, resumes Thursday, with the prosecution examining its final witness, police officer Hamid Ullah Memon. The four Islamic radicals, including suspected mastermind Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, charged with Pearl's kidnapping and murder have all pleaded innocent.

Quereshi said Wednesday that not having Mariane Pearl as a witness "would neither hurt nor help the prosecution case at this time."

She would have testified only that she made the initial criminal complaint and showed e-mails she received showing her husband in captivity, Quereshi said, adding that both the complaint and the e-mails are already in the court record.

Daniel Pearl, the Journal's South Asia bureau chief, disappeared from the port city of Karachi on Jan. 23 while working on a story about Pakistani militants. After his disappearance, e-mails -- with photos showing a captive Pearl -- were sent to news agencies from an unknown group demanding better treatment for al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners held at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba.

Forensic laboratory officials in Lahore said they are still waiting for blood samples from Pearl's family so they can make a positive match.