Pearl's Widow Sues Al Qaeda, Bank

The widow of a Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and executed in Pakistan filed suit against Al Qaeda and a major Pakistani bank in federal court in Brooklyn yesterday.

Earlier this year, a top Al Qaeda leader, Khalid Sheik Muhammed, confessed to beheading the reporter, Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2002. The confession came during a hearing in March at the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pearl had been pursuing a story in the region.

"I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record," Pearl's widow, Mariane Pearl, said in an e-mail statement from her lawyers. "This process allows us to delve deeper into the investigation, and to bring accountability and punishment to those involved with his kidnapping, torture, and murder."

Several of the defendants, such as Al Qaeda and Muhammed, are not expected to respond in court. The lawsuit also targets an international bank, Habib Bank Limited, claiming that it handled an account for an alleged Al Qaeda front organization, Al Rashid Trust, which the suit charges is linked to the killing. An official of Al Rashid, Saud Memon, who is now dead, allegedly owned the compound where Pearl died and played a central role in the kidnapping, the complaint said.

The Al Rashid accounts held by the bank were allegedly used to solicit contributions from international donors for jihadist activities, the suit claims. The bank has a branch on East 42nd Street.

The manager of Habib Bank in America, Faiq Sadiq, said he had not received the legal complaint and could not comment.

Last year, the bank signed an agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to "address deficiencies" in the New York branch's compliance with anti-money laundering rules.