Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh ( ur, احمد عمر سعید شیخ; sometimes known as Umar Sheikh, Sheikh Omar,Note that this term is more commonly used in reference to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman Sheik Syed or by the alias Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad;''CNN.com'' 6 October 2001. born 23 December 1973) is a British Pakistani terrorist. He became a member of the Islamist

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

group

Harkat-ul-Ansar Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir.Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the 1990s, and later of

Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000." Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...

and was closely associated with

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

. He was arrested-in-action during the 1994 kidnappings of Western tourists in India and served time in Indian prisons. He was released in 1999 and was provided safe passage into Afghanistan with the support of the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

in exchange for passengers aboard the hijacked

Indian Airlines Flight 814 Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, whe ...

. He is best-known for his role in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002. Sheikh was arrested by Pakistani police on 12 February 2002, in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, in connection with the Pearl kidnapping and was sentenced to death on 15 July 2002 by a special judge of an anti terrorism court for murdering Pearl.''CNN Transcript'' 12 February 2002.Ansari, Massoud. ''Newsline'' April 2005. His complicity in the murder and the reasons behind it are in dispute. At his initial court appearance, he stated, "I don't want to defend this case. I did this... Right or wrong, I had my reasons. I think that our country shouldn't be catering to America's needs", but he subsequently appealed his conviction for murder, only admitting his role in the kidnapping of Pearl. Saeed's lawyer has stated he will base his client's appeal on the admission of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, made public in 2007, that he is the killer of Daniel Pearl. Sheikh's murder conviction was overturned (along with that of his accomplices Fahad Nasim Ahmed, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Mohammad Adil) by Pakistan's

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in ...

on 2 April 2020, and his seven-year sentence for kidnapping was considered as time-served. , he is imprisoned at the

Kot Lakhpat Jail Central Jail Lahore is a prominent prison situated in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan at Rakh Chandra ( Kot Lakhpat). The prison is also known as Kot Lakhpat Jail with reference to its location. The jail houses more than four times the 4000 prisoner c ...

, Lahore (where he had been shifted to from

Central Prison Karachi Central Jail Karachi, also known as Central Prison Karachi, is a prison in the city of Karachi in Sindh, Pakistan. It houses more than 4800 prisoners including convicted terrorists that include militants who attempted to assassinate President of P ...

) but has been moved out of

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

while his acquittal for Pearl's murder is in appeal at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Early life

Ahmed Omar Sheikh was born in London, England on December 23, 1974. His parents, Saeed and Qaissra Sheikh, emigrated from Pakistan to the UK in 1968 and ran a prosperous clothing business. He was the eldest of three siblings and in his youth he attended

Forest School Forest School or Forrest School may refer to: Educational philosophy * Forest school (learning style), a learner centred outdoor learning approach. Religious philosophy * Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada school of Buddhism in Thailand. * Sri La ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, an independent school in North-East London, whose alumni include English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

captain

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is a British cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-ha ...

, filmmaker Peter Greenaway and singer Suzana Ansar. Between the ages of 14 and 16 he attended

Aitchison College Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...

, the most exclusive boys boarding school in Pakistan, where his family had temporarily relocated. He later returned to the United Kingdom to continue at Forest School.McGinty, Stephen. ''The Scotsman'', 16 July 2002. ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'' journalist Daniel Flynn, who was a childhood friend, says that he was already an admirer of Pakistan's Islamist dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and returned to London as "a junior boxing champion and full of stories of contacts with organised crime, gun battles in the ghettos of

, visits to brothels." Later, he attended the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Hendrik Hertzberg,
Kidnapped
" ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. 18 February 2002. Retrieved 26 April 2011. to study

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...

, but dropped out during his first year. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported that a fellow student of Sheikh's at both the

and the LSE, Syed Ali Hasan, had described him in 2002 as "bright but rather dysfunctional" and said that he had been suspended from school on several occasions because of his violent behavior. He was known for his violence since his childhood, having punched and thrown to the floor a teacher when he was eight years old, and grew up to be a bully. Becoming an adult, a "burly-chested six feet two inches" as per journalist

Robert Sam Anson Robert Sam Anson (March 12, 1945November 2, 2020) was an American journalist and author. He was noted for his work as a contributing editor to ''Vanity Fair'' for over 20 years. He also wrote for other American magazines such as '' Esquire'', ...

, he would eventually translate this violence into a love for martial arts and sports, participating in the 1992

World Armwrestling Championship World Armwrestling Championships is the main arm wrestling championship in the World. It is organized by the World Armwrestling Federation, founded in 1977. The first WAF World Armwrestling was hosted by John Miazdzyk in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, while also being a chess champion during his days at the LSE. Noted for his academic abilities, he's also a polyglot who could speak five languages. ''The Guardian'' reported that Sheikh came into contact with radical Islamists at the LSE, quoting Hasan as saying " etold us he was going to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

driving aid convoys, and he never came back to university". Former Pakistani President

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

, in his book ''

In the Line of Fire ''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 American political action thriller film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Written by Jeff Maguire, the film is about a disillusioned and obsessed former ...

'', stated that Sheikh was originally recruited by British intelligence agency

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

while studying at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He alleges Sheikh was sent to the Balkans by MI6 to engage in operations. Musharraf later says, "At some point, he probably became a rogue or double agent". Omar Sheikh married Saadia Rauf (who holds an MA degree in English) in

in December 2000 and became a father in November 2001.

Kidnapping of American and British nationals, 1994

He travelled to Bosnia in 1993 during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

and met other Pakistani Islamist militants with whom he went to an Afghan training camp and joined the anti-Indian terrorist group

Harkat-ul-Ansar Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir. He served five years in prison including the Delhi

Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one ...

in the 1990s in connection with the 1994 kidnappings of Westerners in India perpetrated by the Harkat-ul-Ansar (under the pseudonym of Al-Hadid), during which he had been caught. The abductees included three British citizens, Myles Croston, Paul Rideout, and Rhys Partridge, and one American, Béla Nuss; all of them were rescued unharmed. During his jail years, where he moved from jail to jail in different cities (e.g. New Delhi, Meerut, etc.), he was noted as wanting to read biographies of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and Stalin and described "as a tough, militant youth with a sharp, calculating brain well capable of planning and executing terror acts with precision", while his counsel in Meerut, O.P. Sharma, remembers him as a "fanatic to the core" who "believed every non-Muslim is a kafir and must perish", that "there was no concept of democracy in Islam" and even that "at times he turned very violent and behaved like a mentally-challenged person" for instance when "he once beat up one of the deputy jailors at Meerut jail."

Hijacking and release from prison

In 1999,

was hijacked by five Pakistani militants belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (formerly

Harkat-ul-Ansar Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir.Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, Nepal to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India. The hijackers demanded the release of fellow Harkat-ul-Mujahideen members Sheikh and

Masood Azhar Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi is a radical Islamist and terrorist, being the founder and leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region. His actions a ...

(who went on to found

which Sheikh later joined) and

Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar (born 1967, also known as Mushtaq Latram) is a Kashmiri militant active in the Kashmiri insurgency, and founder of the militant outfit Al-Umar Mujahedeen. He spent considerable time in an Indian prison and was released in th ...

, leader of another Pakistan-based anti-India terror organization. The plane landed in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and

militia surrounded the plane, pre-empting any Indian commando operation. After negotiations between the Indian government and the hijackers, the hostages were freed eight days after the hijacking occurred, although a passenger, Ripan Katyal, was stabbed to death by one of the hijackers. The three prisoners were released in exchange for the hostages, including Sheikh who was imprisoned at the

in Delhi. Sheikh also had financial connections with Aftab Ansari, perpetrator of the kidnapping of Partha Pratim Roy Burman and the

2002 attack on American cultural centre in Kolkata Four police constables and a private security guard were killed and 20 other people injured when, on 22 January 2002, Islamic militants attacked an American cultural centre in Kolkata, India. The centre houses a library, the American embassy's ...

Media descriptions

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' has described Sheikh as "no ordinary terrorist but a man who has connections that reach high into Pakistan's military and intelligence elite and into the innermost circles of Osama Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda organisation." According to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, Sheikh began working for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 1993. By 1994, he was operating training camps in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and had earned the title of bin Laden's "special son." In May 2002, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' quoted an unnamed Pakistani source as saying that the ISI paid Sheikh's legal fees during his 1994 trial in India on charges of kidnapping.

Possible connection with 9/11 hijackers

On 6 October 2001, a senior-level US government official, told

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

that US investigators had discovered Sheikh (Sheik Syed), using the alias " Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad" had sent about $100,000 from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

to Mohamed Atta. Investigators said "Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida in the weeks before the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil that destroyed the World Trade Center, heavily damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars – believed to be excess funds from the operation – back to Syed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11." CNN later confirmed this. The 9/11 Commission's Final Report states that the source of the funds "remains unknown." More than a month after the money transfer was discovered, the head of ISI, General

Mahmud Ahmed Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed ( ur, ; b. 1944) is a retired three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence from 1999 to 2001. He played a crucial role in sponsorsh ...

resigned from his position. It was reported that the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) was investigating the possibility that Gen. Ahmed ordered Sheikh to send the $100,000 to Atta. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' was one of the only Western news organisations to follow up on the story, citing the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'': "US authorities sought General Mahmud Ahmed's removal after confirming that $100,000 was wired to WTC hijacker Mohamed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the insistence of General Mahmud." Another Indian newspaper, the ''

Daily Excelsior The ''Daily Excelsior'' is an English-language newspaper published in Jammu, a city in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It was established by S. D. Rohmetra. The newspaper has been in publication since 1 January 1965. Its cu ...

'', quoting FBI sources, reported that the "FBI's examination of the hard disk of the cellphone company Sheikh had subscribed to led to the discovery of the "link" between him and the deposed chief of the Pakistani ISI, Mahmud Ahmed. And as the FBI investigators delved deep, reports surfaced with regard to the transfer of $100,000 to Mohamed Atta, one of the ringleaders of the 11 September attacks, who flew the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 Boeing 767-223ER commercial airliner into the North Tower of World Trade Center. General Mahmud Ahmed, the FBI investigators found, fully knew about the transfer of money to Atta." US investigators later said that this was a confusion with Mustafa al-Hawsawi, also known as Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad, who is currently held in Guantanamo Bay. The ''Pittsburgh Tribune'' notes that there "are many in Musharraf's government who believe that Saeed Sheikh's power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

." Sheikh rose to prominence with the 2002 killing of ''Wall Street Journal'' reporter Daniel Pearl, who at the time was in Pakistan investigating connections between the ISI and Islamic militant groups. In Pakistan, Sheikh was sentenced to death for killing Pearl, however his complicity in Pearl's execution and the reasons behind it are in dispute. Further adding to the confusion surrounding the issue is that Khalid Sheikh Muhammad personally claimed to have been Pearl's killer. Saeed was seemingly implicated by

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

just before her own death in a hypothetical murder of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

(which must have occurred in late 2001 or 2002). Several commentators have noted that, as she had previously been speaking about one of the sons of bin Laden during the interview, in all likelihood, Bhutto simply misspoke and had intended to say, "Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered ''Daniel Pearl''," rather than "the man who murdered bin Laden" – such an important revelation about bin Laden's fate would certainly not have been stated so casually. Additionally, in subsequent interviews, Bhutto spoke about bin Laden in the context of him being alive.

Daniel Pearl kidnapping

The kidnapping (on January 23, 2002) and subsequent murder (on February 1, 2002) of American ''Wall Street Journal'' reporter Daniel Pearl in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, who was following an investigative lead while working in post-9/11 Pakistan, was committed by several Islamist jihadist groups working in collaboration. Sheikh, a member of the

Harkat ul-Ansar Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir.Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and later

, has admitted to planning and committing the kidnapping but denied being involved in Pearl's murder. The beheading video of Pearl was released by Jaish-e-Mohammed, under the pseudonym of "National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty" and Jaish member

Amjad Farooqi Amjad Farooqi (; – September 26, 2004), alias Amjad Hussain, was a Pakistani militant who operated in Indian-administered Kashmir, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Background Farooqi was believed to have been involved in the 1995 ...

was reportedly involved in the kidnapping and murder. In a January 2011 report prepared by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), members of other Pakistani terrorist groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and

Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP, , Guardians of the Prophet's Companions), renamed to Millat-e-Islamia, is a Islamist organisation in Pakistan, which also functioned as a political party. It broke away from the main Deobandi Sunni organisation J ...

were also stated to be involved in Pearl's kidnapping and murder. The lead author of the report was Pearl's friend and colleague, journalist

Asra Nomani Asra Quratulain Nomani (born September 7, 1965) is an American author and former Georgetown University professor. Born in India to Muslim parents, she earned a BA from West Virginia University in liberal arts in 1986 and an MA from the American U ...

. All of the aforementioned groups were operating under the

Lashkar-e-Omar Lashkar-e-Omar (The Army of Omar) is an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation. The group, which was formed in January 2002, is a mixture of elements from three other terrorist groups: Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jai ...

umbrella.

leaders were also involved in the kidnapping and murder of Pearl, with

Saif al-Adel Saif al-Adel ( ar, سيف العدل; born April 11, 1960/63) is a former Egyptian colonel, explosives expert, and a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda who is still at large. Adel is under indictment by the United StatesKhalid Sheikh Mohammed was personally identified in investigative reports as the one who killed Pearl. Pearl was detained and later killed at an Al-Qaeda safe house in Karachi owned by Pakistani businessman

Saud Memon Saud Memon (circa 1961 – 18 May 2007) was a Pakistani businessman from Karachi dealing in yarn and textiles. Memon was said to own the Al-Qaeda safe house in Karachi where American journalist Daniel Pearl was killed. Memon was wanted by law-e ...

Matiur Rehman Matiur Rehman (born 1977, Bahawalpur District, Punjab Province, Pakistan) is a Pakistani militant who has been identified as al Qaeda's planning director and is the chief operational commander of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and is closely associated with ...

, another al-Qaeda leader has been identified as being involved in the kidnapping. Sheikh was arrested by Pakistani police on 12 February 2002, in

, in connection with the kidnapping of Pearl. Pearl after being kidnapped, had his throat slit, and then was beheaded on February 1, 2002. Sheikh told the Pakistani court, however, that he had surrendered to the Inter-Services Intelligence's

Ijaz Shah Ijaz Ahmed Shah is a Pakistani politician, former officer of the Pakistan Army, and a former Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer.Wright, Abi. ''Committee to Protect Journalists'', May 2006. Sheikh's lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar claims Sheikh was arrested on 5 February 2002 and not on 12 February, and that evidence against the four suspects was fabricated by Pakistani police while the suspects were held in secret for a week. He also claims confessions were obtained under duress of torture and solitary confinement. However, Sheikh also told Pakistani officials in court in February 2002 that "as far as I know" Pearl had been killed. The CPI and ICIJ report concluded Omar Sheikh was the mastermind of the plot to kidnap Pearl, leading to his subsequent murder. The report also confirmed the role of three codefendants convicted with Sheikh in Pearl's case. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a former

captive, who had been tortured in 2003 in the CIA's archipelago of black sites, had confessed to the murder, and the report concluded his confession was credible. The report noted that FBI forensic experts had confirmed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession through "

vein matching Vein matching, also called vascular technology, is a technique of biometric identification through the analysis of the patterns of blood vessels visible from the surface of the skin. Though used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cen ...

", identifying the pattern of the veins in the killer's hands in the video. In February 2014, ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' reported that Saeed had attempted suicide at the

(where he was being held at the time) but had been discovered in time by prison guards and was in a stable condition. The newspaper quoted a senior prison official as saying: "He is kept in a separate cell and section of the jail as he is no ordinary criminal. ��We have filed a case against him for attempted suicide and he can face additional punishment now". A second prison official said: "He is a very intelligent, strong and sharp criminal with dangerous designs. So his attempt to commit suicide comes as a surprise".

Hoax calls

In the aftermath of the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of Terrorism, terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from P ...

, tensions increased dramatically between India and Pakistan. On 28 November, a hoax caller pretending to be then Indian Foreign Minister

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

threatened Pakistan President Zardari with war, leading to the Pakistan military being put on high alert. Military aircraft with live ammunition were scrambled to patrol above Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The same caller tried to get in touch with the real Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

, claiming he was President Zardari but was unable to get through to either.Jailed militant’s hoax calls drove India, Pakistan to brink of war
''Dawn'', Pakistan. A year after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan's ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'' newspaper revealed that the hoax caller had been Sheikh. Using a mobile phone smuggled into his prison cell, Sheikh made the calls using a British SIM card. After the source of the hoax calls became known, intelligence agents confiscated Sheikh's illegal phones and SIM cards and he was placed in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

In popular culture

''The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl'' (2006) a television documentary by Indian directors Ahmed Alauddin Jamal and Ramesh Sharma which aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

compares the contrasting lives of Sheikh and Danel Pearl. Alyy Khan portrayed Sheikh in the film ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007) which was based on the memoir by Pearl's wife

Mariane Pearl Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl (born 23 July 1967) is a French freelance journalist and a former reporter and columnist for '' Glamour'' magazine. She is the widow of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist who was the South Asia Bureau Chief for ''The ...

. In 2008,

National Geographic Adventure Nat Geo People was an international pay television channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). Targeted at female audiences, with programming fo ...

's docudrama show Locked up Abroad broadcast the episode "India: Hostage to Terror" about Sheikh's 1994 kidnappings of Westerners in India. In 2017, an Indian biographical film ''Omerta'' based on the life of Sheikh was released. Rajkummar Rao portrays Sheikh and the film covers his initial radicalization, role in the 1994 kidnappings of Westerners in India, his release in exchange for hostages of the

Indian Airlines flight 814 Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, whe ...

, and his role in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl.

Notes

References

External links

*
Profiles in Terror: Omar Sayeed Sheikh
''Terrorgate''.

''

''.
The English Islamic terrorist
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

.
Suspected hijack bankroller freed by India in '99
October 6, 2001. ''

''.
India helped FBI trace ISI-terrorist links
''

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saeed Sheikh, Ahmed Omar 1973 births 20th-century British criminals 21st-century British criminals Al-Qaeda British people convicted of murder British people imprisoned abroad British prisoners and detainees British prisoners sentenced to death Criminals from London English Islamists English people of Pakistani descent Living people People educated at Forest School, Walthamstow Sunni Islamists People from Walthamstow British people convicted of kidnapping People convicted of murder by Pakistan Prisoners and detainees of Pakistan People of the Bosnian War British expatriates in Bosnia and Herzegovina British expatriates in Afghanistan British expatriates in India British emigrants to Pakistan Pakistani expatriates in Bosnia and Herzegovina Pakistani expatriates in Afghanistan Pakistani expatriates in India Aitchison College alumni Pakistani al-Qaeda members British al-Qaeda members Prisoners sentenced to death by Pakistan British kidnappers Pakistani kidnappers Pakistani people convicted of murder Pakistani prisoners sentenced to death Pakistani Islamists People of the Afghanistan conflict (1978–present) Inmates of Tihar Jail Overturned convictions in Pakistan