US welcomes Pak statement on Daniel Pearl murder case

WASHINGTON: The United States has welcomed Pakistan s actions in the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist after the Sindh High Court overturned the death penalty of prime accused and acquitted his three accomplices earlier this week.

"We welcome Pakistan's April 3 statement and the Sindh government's decision to continue to detain those responsible for Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder and to mount a strong appeal," Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells said in a statement.

The perpetrators of this horrific act of terrorism will not escape justice, she added.

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday acquitted three persons accused of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of the American journalist back in 2002.

A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha had announced the judgment which was reserved last month after the arguments of the appellants and the state counsel were concluded.

The court has commuted Omar Saeed Sheikh’s death sentence to a seven-year sentence, a defence lawyer told media after the verdict. The murder charges were not proved so he has given seven years for the kidnapping.

Omar has already served 18 years so his release orders will be issued sometime today. He will be out in a few days, he had said.

The federal government on Friday expressed its reservations over the Sindh High Court’s ruling in the case timing of which had also surprised Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Stating that although it was a provincial matter given that it was a criminal case, the interior ministry said that the matter had been taken up with the Sindh home ministry as well.