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Pearl talks about Judaism,
government on captors' video
CNN February 27, 2002
Pearl
 KARACHI,
Pakistan (CNN) -- Slain American journalist Daniel Pearl
discussed his Jewish heritage and made propaganda statements,
under apparent duress, on a roughly produced videotape
that also contained violent footage of his death.
CNN Correspondent Connie Chung viewed a copy of the
videotape Tuesday. The tape included a direct threat
to target other Americans if the demands of Pearl's
kidnappers aren't met.
The original videotape was sent to Pakistani authorities
last week, who turned it over to U.S. officials. The
copy, which lasted three minutes and 15 seconds, was
more than 30 seconds shorter than the original videotape,
but sources authenticated it as consistent with the
original.
The tape began with the Wall Street Journal reporter
saying, "My name is Daniel Pearl. I'm a Jewish-American.
My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am a Jew."
Then, looking at the camera, he recounted numerous family
visits to Israel and noted that a street in a town in
Israel was named after his great-grandfather, who was
one of the founders of the town.
Pearl's kidnappers had accused him of being an agent
for the CIA and for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence
agency. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government
adamantly denied that he was a spy.
Following the discussion of Pearl's heritage, there
was a clear edit in the tape. Pearl can be seen looking
at the camera and struggling to make statements from
memory.
"Not knowing anything about my situation, not being
able to communicate with anybody, and only now do I
think about some of the people in Guantanamo Bay. They
must be in a similar situation, and I have come to realize
that this is the sort of problem that Americans are
going to have anywhere in the world now," he said.
Among the demands Pearl's kidnappers had made is that
Pakistani nationals being held by the U.S. military
at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba be released. The
detainees are associated with the al Qaeda network and
the deposed Taliban government of Afghanistan.
Pearl then looked off camera and makes this statement:
"We can't be secure, we can't walk around free,
as long as our government policies are continuing and
we allow them to continue."
There is another clear edit in the tape, and Pearl then
is shown saying, "We as Americans cannot continue
to bear the consequences of our government's actions,
such as the unconditional support of the state of Israel."
In the tape, Pearl does not appear to have been beaten.
In some segments, his hair is mussed, while in others,
it is slicked back.
The section of the videotape where Pearl is seen speaking
lasts about 90 seconds. As he speaks, pictures of bodies
and funerals and words, such as "Afghanistan,"
are superimposed on the screen.
According to Chung, that portion of the tape is then
followed by a 50-second section containing graphic scenes
of violence against Pearl.
Other sources who have viewed the tape said it shows
Pearl being stabbed and decapitated, although it is
unclear whether he was still alive at the time. His
body has not been found.
After the violence sequence, a picture of Pearl appears
on the tape with a title -- National Movement for the
Restoration of Pakistan's Sovereignty -- superimposed
on the screen. That group claimed responsibility for
Pearl's kidnapping.
The group's demands then scroll from the bottom to the
top of the screen, including demands that Pakistanis
at Guantanamo be released, that the U.S. presence in
Pakistan end and that F-16 fighters -- which Pakistan
purchased from the United States but never received
-- be delivered.
The tape ends with a threat that if these demands aren't
met, what happened to Pearl could happen to other Americans
in Pakistan.
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