Daniel Pearl murder accused to be in jail for 3 more months

ISLAMABAD: The provincial government of Sindh province on Thursday extended by three more months the custody of British-born al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three aides whose sentences in the abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 were overturned in April.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court paved the way for the release of Saeed by rejecting a government request for an immediate hearing of an appeal against his acquittal in the case.

According to a government order, Saeed, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib, who were acquitted and whose detention expired on July 1, will remain in custody until September 30 under a law that allows authorities to detain any suspect for up to one year. Superintendent of Karachi Central Prison, Hasan Sehtoo, said the order had noted that the men’s release would threaten public safety.

In April, the Sindh High Court overturned Saeed’s murder conviction and sentenced him to seven years for the kidnapping. He has already spent 18 years in prison on death row and his seven-year sentence for kidnapping was counted as time served.

STUDENTS WANT TO ‘DISINVITE’ MALALA

Students of Lahore University of Management Sciences reportedly asked the administration to “disinvite” Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai from its annual convocation, saying that she is “anti-state”. Students wrote to the vice chancellor expressing their reservations over having Malala as the keynote speaker, whom they want to be replaced by singer Bilal Khan.

The university has not commented yet.