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Omar Sheikh, facing trial for the abduction and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, may have been an agent of both Pakistani intelligence and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, a media report said on Sunday.
Quoting documents, The Sunday Times said it has found evidence to show that Sheikh, who spent five years in an Indian jail for terrorist activities, was sheltered and supported for several years by Pakistani authorities.
"Documents also show that Sheikh was close to the radical Pakistani cleric Maulana Masood Azhar -- a close associate of bin Laden," the report said.
Sheikh was first introduced to Azhar nine years ago in a training camp for Islamic guerrillas in Afghanistan.
India released both of them in 1998 in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane held hostage in Kandahar.
Even though he denies the latest charges against him, he has admitted involvement in a string of kidnappings since 1994 and the attack on the Indian parliament last December, the report said.
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