Pearl sues Habib for bankrolling murder
TEXT OF STORY
Doug Krizner: Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Now his widow is suing Pakistan’s biggest bank. Mariane Pearl claims Habib Bank knowingly funded the terrorists who killed her husband. But what are the chances she’ll win her case? Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: Whatever the outcome, it may not be known for years. Lawsuits are still working their way through U.S. courts involving banks that allegedly helped fund the 9/11 attacks.
Attorney Nathan Lewin successfully sued a U.S.-based Islamic charity for involvement in the Hamas murder of a young American citizen in the Middle East. He says banks are more formidable opponents than charities.
Nathan Lewin: Because the banks, obviously with a lot of money at stake, hire first-rate lawyers who raise defenses based on questions of whether the banks A. were actually involved, B. whether they knew where the money was going. I mean it’s not an easy case to establish.
Let alone to win. Lewin says Mariane Pearl’s lawyers must prove the bank knew it was funding a terrorist group that would harm American citizens.
In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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