Saud Memon

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Saud Memon (circa 1964—May 18, 2007) was a citizen of Pakistan.^[1]^[2]^[3] Memon owned the shed where American journalist Daniel Pearl was killed.^[1]

An article published by CBS News on January 22, 2003 stated that Memon was still at large.^[4] It described Memon as a rich industrialist, and said other suspects had called him the chief financial backer of Harakat ul-Mujahedeen Al-Almi ^[sic] .

Pakistan's Daily Times reported, on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, that Memon was one of the trustees of Al-Akhtar Trust International, a charity the United States Treasury asserted was tied to al Qaeda and the Taliban.^[5] According to the Daily Times Memon was still at large. The Daily Times described Memon as the owner of a textile business.

According to the Associated Press Memon disappeared four years ago, and held in "mysterious detention". They report he was released on April 28, 2007, when he was left in front of his home in Karachi. They quote his brother who said when he was released he was in "poor health"; he is also reported to have been badly injured, weighing less than 80 pounds, and had completely lost his memory, being unable to recognize his family members.[1]

An review of Bernard-Henri Levy's book Who killed Daniel Pearl?, published in the Asia Times on June 28, 2003 said:

"An informant tells BHL "how everything started by the dismantling ... of a cell making fake papers for al-Qaeda clandestines"; and how the investigation led to "a trafficker specialized not only in fake papers but in the export of clandestine workers to Riyadh, 11 or 12-year-old kids selected in Karachi and Dacca to work as jockeys in camel races on the beaches of Dubai and, last but not least, al-Qaeda combatants exported, through the Oman Straits, to the Emirates, Yemen and other Middle East countries". This man, the real target of the anti-terrorist operation of September 11, 2002, was not Ramzi bin al-Shibh (who was arrested) or alleged September mastermind Khalid Shaikh (who was not there), but Saud Memon, the owner of the lot where Pearl was kept captive, tortured, executed and buried."

Qui a tue Daniel Pearl?, by Memon is notable because Pakistani human rights workers believed he was being held in secret extrajudicial detention.^[1] Pakistani police officials said they wanted to question Memon, but no charges had been laid against him. Amina Masood, Memon's lawyer, said Memon was in the custody of Pakistani intelligence officials. A senior police official named Manzoor Mughal, investigating Pearl's murder, denied knowing that Memon had ever been in Pakistani custody.

Memon died on May 18, 2007. His death was attributed to meningitis and tuberculosis.^[1]

According to Asra Q. Nomani, a long time colleague of Daniel Pearl's, Pakistani papers reported that Saud Memon had been held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[6] However, Saud Memon's name is not on the final official lists of Guantanamo captives, released on May 15, 2006.^[7]

[edit] Report he was tortured to death

An article from the November 12, 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed senior US counter-terrorism official, who said he was^[8]^[9]^[10]:

"...in a lot of the rooms where important things were being discussed. He knew senior Al-Qaeda people, and was moving equipment and supplies."

The Wall Street Journal also quoted an unnamed Pakistani official who said that Saud Menon was held in the American Bagram Theater detention facility, and that he was already in poor condition when the American repatriated him to Pakistani custody.^[10]