U.S. makes it clear: We want Sheikh

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin appealed to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday to hand over the chief suspect in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Chamberlin said no decision has been made about whether Pakistan will deliver Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. The Bush administration said it wants to get its hands on the suspect, who already has been indicted in the United States in an earlier kidnapping.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it was made clear to Musharraf by Chamberlin that Washington wants Saeed sent to the United States, but he acknowledged Pakistan's rights.

"A crime, a murder was committed in their country, and they have their own ways and laws of dealing with it. It's not atypical at a time like that, when another nation makes a request, for that request to be considered, and it takes time," Fleischer said.

The subject is a sensitive one for Pakistan, at least in part because officials fear that turning over Sheikh, the alleged mastermind of the slaying, could set a precedent for India to demand the extradition of 20 suspected terrorists from Pakistan.

The United States and Pakistan have no extradition treaty. Pakistan has indicated that it wants to keep Sheikh in the country to help investigators recover Pearl's body and the weapons used to kill him.

Pakistani media reports said prosecutors here would seek the death penalty against Sheikh, which would mean that he could be hanged. Court cases in Pakistan are tried with a single judge, without a jury.

If Sheikh is handed over to the United States, it likely would happen next month, when the investigation is closer to completion.

A U.S. federal grand jury has secretly indicted Saeed in the 1994 kidnapping of four Westerners in India, including one American. The suspect spent five years in an Indian jail for that crime, but was freed as part of hostage-prisoner swap after Muslim militants hijacked an Indian airplane.

Pearl disappeared Jan. 23 in Karachi while working on a story about Islamic radicals in Pakistan. A videotape showing his slaying surfaced last week.

After speaking with Chamberlin, Musharraf called Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss the hand-over request, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"The Pakistanis are examining our request, and we'll continue these discussions to make sure the common desire on both sides to see that justice is served is in fact brought to fruition," Boucher said.

Pakistani officials are searching for at least four key suspects and Pearl's body has not been found.

How, when and where Pearl was killed are unknown.

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