DANIEL PEARL: Georgetown & The Pearl Project

Georgetown University has announced the launch of The Pearl Project, which involves SAJAer Asra Nomani. From the press release:

Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies
unveiled plans for The Pearl Project, an unique investigative journalism
seminar in which faculty and students will search for clues to what really
happened when Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and
murdered while reporting from Karachi, Pakistan in 2002.

The Pearl Project will take shape as a three-credit seminar led by Barbara
Feinman Todd, associate dean of journalism in the School of Continuing
Studies, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani, who joins
Georgetown as a professor in the practice of journalism.  Nomani, Pearl's
friend and colleague from his days at the Wall Street Journal's Washington
bureau, rented the Karachi home where Pearl and his wife Mariane were
staying at the time of his disappearance. After participating in the search
to find Pearl, Nomani began the preliminary reporting and research for The
Pearl Project.

Read the full details below. Reax? SAJA.org's coverage of the 2002 ordeal is here.

[press release]

For immediate release
March 26, 2007

Contact: Andy Pino
202-687-4328
pinoa@georgetown.edu

Tip line: pearlproject@georgetown.edu or (202) 687-9288.

Georgetown to Sponsor Investigative Journalism Seminar on the Murder of Wall
Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies
unveiled plans for The Pearl Project, an unique investigative journalism
seminar in which faculty and students will search for clues to what really
happened when Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and
murdered while reporting from Karachi, Pakistan in 2002.

The Pearl Project will take shape as a three-credit seminar led by Barbara
Feinman Todd, associate dean of journalism in the School of Continuing
Studies, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani, who joins
Georgetown as a professor in the practice of journalism.  Nomani, Pearl's
friend and colleague from his days at the Wall Street Journal's Washington
bureau, rented the Karachi home where Pearl and his wife Mariane were
staying at the time of his disappearance. After participating in the search
to find Pearl, Nomani began the preliminary reporting and research for The
Pearl Project.

"Sadly, we couldn't save Danny, but journalists are sort of like the
Marines. We can't leave the truth behind," Nomani said.  "For the five years
since Danny was killed, I have wanted to find out the full truth behind
Danny's kidnapping and murder. We are truly fortunate that the leaders of
Georgetown University believe deeply in bringing academic principles of
critical thinking, investigation and social justice to the world."

The project will consist of graduate students from the Master in
Professional Studies Journalism Program and undergraduate English majors
from Georgetown College.  Students enrolled in the seminar will investigate
motive and attempt to determine who really killed Pearl.  They will also
examine the wider relationship between the Muslim world and the press and
profile others who have died in the frontlines of journalism.

"The Pearl Project represents the best of what we are striving to do with
our new master's programs-bring the real world into the classroom," said
Robert Manuel, dean of the School of Continuing Studies.  "This is a unique
experience in which students will be a part of history as it unfolds-instead
of reading about it in a textbook they will actually be participating in a
significant chapter of our nation's story. This is sure to be a lasting
experience that will inform the choices they make in their own lives."

The project will take place during the fall 2007semester, and has the
support of Pearl's family and his widow, Mariane.

"The Pearl Project was long overdue and the Pearl family is grateful to Asra
and Georgetown University for having the courage to take on this project in
search of the truth," said Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl's father and President
of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. "We welcome the Pearl Project as a testimony
to the dedication, ethics and spirit of inquiry with which Danny lived."

Mariane Pearl said, "The Pearl Project is meaningful not only for Danny, for
our son Adam, and for me, but also for all journalists and citizens. This
investigation is crucial for the sake of truth and independence, two values
treasured by my husband and by other courageous journalists who refuse to
make compromises--political or otherwise--in their quest to tell the story."

The Pearl Project is modeled after the Arizona Project, an investigative
reporting project into the murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles
three decades ago.  The Pearl Project will invite the participation of
journalists, media organizations, media outlets and sources from around the
world.

Todd says, "We are greatly looking forward to Asra Nomani's upcoming time
with us this fall as a Visiting Professor in the Practice of Journalism.
Through the Pearl Project, Asra will share her talents and expertise, and
under her tutelage, our students will learn by doing. This is exactly the
sort of serious and meaningful journalism that our new master's program
aspires to. We will investigate Daniel Pearl's death, thereby honoring his
life and the journalism through which he expressed his deep commitment to
truth, justice and cross-cultural understanding."

Anyone with information about Daniel Pearl's disappearance and murder are
encouraged to contact the project at pearlproject@georgetown.edu or (202)
687-9288.

About the School of Continuing Studies

The School of Continuing Studies is founded on Georgetown University's
vision to make education available to "every class of citizen" by providing
working professionals the opportunity to pursue higher education without
interrupting their careers. Through an interdisciplinary approach with an
emphasis on ethics and values, students are instructed by Georgetown's
world-renowned faculty and by the area's most knowledgeable and successful
professionals. Our students have diverse goals and a wide range of
intellectual interests, and SCS speaks to these needs with a broad spectrum
of course offerings, from non-credit certificate programs and bachelor's
degrees to master's and doctoral programs. Visit: http://scs.georgetown.edu.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in
America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a
major student-centered, international, research university offering
respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three
campuses in Washington, DC. For more information about Georgetown
University, visit www.georgetown.edu.

Comments

[Jaya Kamlani]

"Pearl Widow Sues Pakistan Bank Over Murder of Husband"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070718/pl_bloomberg/alialajewe0 (full story)

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl sued Pakistan's largest bank and 23 individuals for their alleged role in the abduction, torture and murder of her husband more than five years ago.

The complaint was filed in federal court in Brooklyn today against Habib Bank Ltd. and the individuals, including alleged al-Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mariane Pearl said Mohammed killed her husband in 2002 and broke international laws against torture, kidnapping and hostage taking.

Pearl is seeking ``to expose and punish the terrorists'' and the organizations that supported them, according to the complaint. The suit alleges Habib Bank ``knowingly conducted financial transactions'' on behalf of two banned Islamic charities, Al Rashid Trust and Al Akhtar Trust International.

``I am looking for the truth of what happened to Daniel, for our family, our friends and the public record,'' Pearl 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.''

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a U.K. citizen who lives in Pakistan, was named in the 49-page complaint as the ringleader of a group of terrorists Pearl says lured her husband to his death. Daniel Pearl, the Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, on Jan. 23, 2002. A month later a video emerged showing his beheading...(continued)....

Jaya Kamlani