Faced with strong criticism from the United States and a possible threat of India raising the case at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Pakistan on April 4 said the acquittal of Omar Ahmed Sheikh Saeed (Omar Sheikh) and three others for the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl will be appealed.
On April 2, the Sindh province court pronounced on Omar Sheikh’s appeal of his 2002 conviction for the kidnapping and brutal murder of Pearl that year, saying the prosecution had failed to produce “strong unimpeachable corroborative evidence” in the case.
The U.S. State Department said the verdict was an “affront to victims of terror everywhere”. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the U.S. would continue to demand justice for Pearl’s murder. “This decision caused reservations,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on April 4. The U.S.’s concerns were “natural”, he noted. “The Sindh Home Department has decided to detain the accused for 90 days under the Public Safety Act,” he said.
In another statement, the Imran Khan government said it was “concerned” about the verdict. “Government of Pakistan reiterates its commitment to follow due process under the laws of the country to bring terrorists to task,” a statement issued by the Pa