Sindh govt appeals in Pak SC against acquittal of terrorists who murdered Daniel Pearl

Sindh government in Pakistan has challenged its provincial high court's order in Supreme Court, wherein British-born top al-Qaeda leer Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three ors were acquitted in US journalist Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder case.

Pearl, 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheed while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on alleged links between country's powerful spy ncy ISI and al-Qaeda - a shocking incident that h captured world's attention at very start of still ongoing war on terror.

four men acquitted were re-arrested

Prosecutor General Sindh Dr Fiaz Shah filed a criminal petition for leave to appeal under Article 185(3) of Constitution against judgment passed by Sindh High Court (SHC) on April 2, News International reported. court h overturned life imprisonment of Omar Saeed along with conviction of three or men for killing of Pearl. A day after SHC overturned ir convictions, four men acquitted were re-arrested.

Pakistan Interior Ministry h said in a statement that men's release was halted after y were re-arrested through a measure, allowing government to hold suspects for three months. ministry said it "reiterates its commitment to follow due process under laws of country to bring terrorists to task."

Alice Wells, a senior State Department official h said, " overturning of convictions for Daniel Pearl's murder is an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere." "Those responsible for Daniel's heius kidnapping and murder must face full measure of justice," she h ded.

Pakistan on FATF list

verdict by Pak's SC came more than a month after Paris-based Financial Action Task Force warned Pakistan that stern action will be taken against it if country fails to check flow of money to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) among ors.

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FATF, which supervises effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, last year placed Pakistan on its "Grey List" of countries for failure to curb funnelling of funds to terror groups like LeT and JeM. If t removed from list by April end, Pakistan may move to a blacklist of countries such as Iran that face severe ecomic sanctions.

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(With ncy inputs)