ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will soon be freeing the convicted killer and kidnapper of US journalist Daniel Pearl, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh as an expression of solidarity, The Dependent has been informed.
In an exclusive interview, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed that following the Supreme Court verdict asking Sheikh’s release, the self-confessed kidnapper of the former Wall Street Journal reporter, the state will be following through with the decision with the government wholeheartedly endorsing the move ‘for the betterment of media’.
“Whenever we eventually get around to doing it, we will be releasing Daniel Pearl’s kidnapper and complicit in his killing, as an expression of solidarity with our own Pakistani journalists whose kidnappers and killers roam free,” Qureshi told The Dependent.
When asked by this scribe if he had misheard the comment conveyed via telephone, Qureshi repeated his words.
“No, not in solidarity with the killers and kidnappers of Pakistani journalists, with the Pakistani journalists who are killed and kidnapped,” he said.
The Foreign Minister also reaffirmed the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s commitment to free media.
“After freeing Ahmad Sheikh, we’ll be freeing Pakistani media as well,” Qureshi confirmed, now qualifying his statement himself for clarity after self-reflection.
“As in freer than they already are, which is freest. Scratch this, no one is safer than Pakistani journalists.”
The foreign minister was still asked with regards to the policy on the kidnappers and killers of Pakistani journalists.
“I said, scratch this interview. No one kidnaps Pakistani journalists and shame on you for pointing fingers at the most hallowed and esteemed institutions of Pakistan,” Qureshi slammed this scribe.
