31 March 2004

by Anai Rhoads

AnaiRhoads.org - Mariane Pearl, the widow of the now well-known Daniel Pearl, sought 9-11 compensation from the United States for his death. Citing that her husband's murder was connected to terrorism, Pearl said the 9-11 attacks and overseas extremism against Americans were closely associated and payment is a direct responsibility of the U.S.

Pearl filed an appeal after being denied by the 9-11 fund director, Kenneth Feinberg. Feinberg's reason for turning down her request was due to the location of Daniel Pearl's death. The families of the 9-11 victims that were paid for the deaths from New York City, New York; Arlington, Virginia; and Pennsylvania. Feinberg believes Pearl's death is not connected to 9-11, but others see it differently.

"What is horribly, painfully obvious is that if Danny Pearl had come from any other country in the world, he would be alive today," Mariane Pearl's lawyer, Robert Kelner, was quoted in a New York Times article. "And because there is a 9-11 fund which is compensating people for the exact same kind of death, we feel that Danny should be included as a victim."

Pearl says her husband was murdered, much like those in the 2001 attacks, as a "symbol of America" by the accused cogitator and leader, Khalid Shaik Mohammed, who is said to have engineered the 9-11 blitzkrieg.

Daniel Pearl was taken hostage in Karachi, Pakistan by anti-American militants on 23 January 2002. He had been working on a story for the Wall Street Journal when he was captured, displayed to the world through the media, and later killed. The thirty-eight year old left behind his wife, who in May of 2002 gave birth to a son she named Adam.

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