LAHORE, Feb 15: Sindh police have found more leads in the Daniel Pearl case, Interior Minister Moinud Din Haider claimed on Friday.

Talking to reporters after opening Nadra’s fast track facility here, he said the Sindh inspector general of police had told him that police were working on the leads to nab real kidnappers and their abettors.

Replying to a question about the main accused Shaikh Omar’s statement about possible death of the victim, he said the government could not say anything in absolute terms about the fate of Pearl whether he was alive or dead for no worthwhile evidence had so far been found in this respect.

Declaring the incident an irresponsible act of the kidnappers who had claimed that the step had been taken on personal grounds, he said they had defaced the country’s image and attempted to sabotage the president’s US visit.

Answering another query, he said Shaikh Omar was not being monitored since his release along with Maulana Masood Azhar in 1999 from India because there was no complaint against him with the Pakistan government. Now Shaikh Mubarak was being named in the case who had never been found involved in any case, he added.

Replying to a question about lawyers’ opposition to the inclusion of military officers in special anti-terrorism courts, he said the government’s only intention was to speed up the trial of five to six hundred terrorists and hardened criminals put into jails for the last nine years.

The judges, afraid of the accused, were delaying any decision on the cases while eye-witnesses were also not ready to appear in courts for fear of their lives, he added.

Regretting that the lawyers’ community did not accept the government decision, he urged them to present any other positive proposal in this regard which could meet the constitutional and legal requirements as well as satisfy the families of the victims murdered by these terrorists.

Replying to a query about the current terror acts in the country, Mr Haider said he was holding a meeting of chief secretaries and inspectors-general of police of all the four provinces in Lahore on the issue and would dwelt upon it in detail after the meeting.