Habib Bank Limited on Thursday denied allegations by the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl that it was involved in providing financial services to al Qaeda and others. Mariane Pearl filed a lawsuit in New York Wednesday against 23 individuals and organisations over the 2002 abduction and murder of her husband in Karachi.
The lawsuit notably names al Qaeda, alleged al Qaeda kingpin Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - who claimed responsibility for beheading Pearl and is now in US custody - and Habib Bank among the defendants. Habib Bank denied the allegations. "These allegations are baseless. Habib Bank is a professional bank and we have never been involved in any terrorism," Zafar Aziz Osmani, senior executive vice-president of Habib Bank, told AFP.
"I firmly deny all these allegations. In 2002, the bank was owned by the government of Pakistan, which cannot be involved in such activities," he said. Osmani said the allegation was not substantiated by any evidence. "The allegations are not against one branch in New York, but against the bank as an institution and without any evidence," Osmani said.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating laws including the Anti-Terrorism Act and Torture Victim Protection Act. It says they were involved in Pearl''s abduction and killing by providing financial or logistical support in the form of training, shelter, weapons, transportation, food, communications, equipment or financial services.
The complaint names banned groups Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and al Qaeda as being implicated and accuses Islamic charities Al Rashid Trust and Al Akhtar Trust International of financing the defendants through accounts held at Habib Bank.
"I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends, and the public record," Pearl (Mariane) said in a statement. "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," she said.