Thread by @AsraNomani

If Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is freed by a Pakistani court, he must face American justice. And it shouldn’t be up to the family of one of his victims to demand it, writes @GovChristie wsj.com/articles/extra… via @WSJ

2/ @GovChristie makes a critical argument: The US indicted Omar Sheikh for Danny Pearl's 2002 kidnapping AND the 1994 kidnapping of a US tourist Bela Nuss in India. Christie was there and says: he faces the DEATH PENALTY in America. nbcnews.com/id/wbna3067249

3/ Writes @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "I was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey on Jan. 17, 2002. Six days later, Daniel Pearl, South Asia bureau chief for The @WSJ, was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan."

4/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "Pearl was investigating a story about the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, and had been promised by his kidnappers that they would take him to meet Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani."

5/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "Pearl believed Sheikh Mubarak had information regarding Mr. Reid, the British terrorist who attempted to detonate an explosive device in his shoe aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001."

Reid is still an extremist. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/s…

6/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "Pearl never met Sheikh Mubarak—the meeting was a setup—and he was never seen again. The killers released a videotape of Pearl’s murder. The Pearl investigation was my baptism into the world of terrorism."

7/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "We were all still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The FBI had set up a command center at the South Brunswick, N.J., headquarters of Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher."

8/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "Through the combined efforts of @TheJusticeDept and Pakistani authorities, three men were identified as having taken part in the abduction...the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, had been sending ransom demands..."

9/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "Through great computer forensics, the task force of...American and Pakistani authorities was able to identify and arrest three people, including the mastermind of the abduction, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. Mr. Sheikh already had a record of terrorism."

10/ In the Sindh High Court decision arguing that Omar Sheikh should be freed, KK Agha and a second judge tried to argue laughably that there is no proof that Omar Sheikh is a proven terrorist. In his piece, @GovChristie puts that preposterous argument to rest.

11/ "In 1994, then a member of Harkat ul-Ansar, an Islamic militant organization, he [Omar Sheikh] was convicted of kidnapping four people, inc an American in India. He was jailed in India but after his terrorist friends hijacked an Indian Airlines flight, Mr. Sheikh was freed.."

12/ @GovChristie: "With assistance from the Taliban, he made his way to Afghanistan. Mr. Sheikh was indicted in March 2002 by a NJ grand jury for the kidnapping of Pearl resulting in his murder. The indictment is still viable and...the U.S. can seek the DEATH PENALTY."

13/ @GovChristie @WSJopinion: "In announcing the indictment, Attorney General John Ashcroft also announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Mr. Sheikh with the kidnapping of the American tourist in India."

As @State_SCA tells Pakistan: America is READY to try Omar Sheikh.