Beverley Lumpkin: Halls of Justice

W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 22 -- At this point it's not clear whether the Pakistanis will prosecute those responsible for American reporter Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder, or whether they will turn the culprits over to the United States.

But the lack of an extradition treaty should not be an impediment. On several occasions in recent years the Pakistanis have proved they are capable of turning over terrorists wanted in this country without any legal niceties such as an extradition process.

One example was the case of Mir Aimal Kansi (later Kasi), wanted in the 1993 shootings of several CIA officers at the agency's gate. With the barest hint of plausible deniability, in 1997 Kansi was turned over to FBI agents in Pakistan. And in October 2001 a man wanted in the 1986 hijacking of a Pan Am flight was "apprehended" by the FBI in Pakistan just after his release from a Pakistani prison. U.S. officials refused to say the Pakistanis had "turned over" Zayd Hassan Abd al-Latif Masud al-Safarini to the FBI, but again that omission was the merest figleaf.

Kansi is now appealing his death sentence in Virginia; Safarini is awaiting trial in D.C., with a status hearing set for May 3.

In recent years, U.S. officials have pressed hard, utilizing the so-called "long-arm" statutes passed in the late 1980s, to prosecute in the United States anyone accused of harming Americans overseas. And the attorney general's statement on Pearl's death pointedly noted, "We will bring to Justice terrorists who kill innocent Americans."

But some FBI officials speculate that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf may want to prove that his new policy of being tough on terrorists is real by prosecuting the bad guys himself. And as one pointed out, if they get the death penalty in Pakistan, that might be adequate for U.S. purposes.

FBI Headaches

The Bureau's chickens are coming home to roost: very soon we will start seeing reports from the various investigations that have been digging into the FBI's many failings that were such headline-grabbers for most of last year.

The first up will be Justice's inspector general report on the Timothy McVeigh document mess; how it was that despite multiple orders from the Director himself, numerous FBI offices failed adequately to search their files for any and all McVeigh-related documents that were required to be turned over to his defense counsel.

Although the documents belatedly turned over did not contain any information of significance, their discovery forced Attorney General John Ashcroft to delay Oklahoma City bomber McVeigh's execution. Having the rug pulled out from under him stunned and infuriated the attorney general and made him determined to bring the bureau to heel.