Sindh asks SC for early hearing of Daniel Pearl case

Pakistan's Sindh government has approached the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of its appeal in the Daniel Pearl case after the high court overturned the conviction of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who masterminded the American journalists kidnapping and murder 18 years ago.

Moved on behalf of Sindh Prosecutor General Fiaz Shah, the application on Tuesday apprised the Supreme Court of Pakistan that there was apprehension about Sheikh's absconsion as there was strong evidence of his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of the American journalist, reports Dawn news.

"The matter is of great urgency, therefore, the application for the suspension of April 2 Sindh High court (SHC) judgement be heard as early as possible," the application stated.

It requested the apex court to fix the hearing as early as possible, preferably in the coming week.

In its April 2 order, the SHC had overturned the conviction of Sheikh for killing the South Asia Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal 18 years ago, reports Dawn news.

The SHC had also acquitted three other accused Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib, who had been earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Karachi.

But the provinical government has re-arrested and detained the four accused for a period of three months, pending filing of the appeal.

Pearl, 38, was was abducted Karachi in January 2002. A graphic video showing his decapitation was delivered to the US consulate a month later.

Subsequently Omar Sheikh was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to death by the trial court.