US Says Ready To Try Pakistan Terrorist Omar Sheikh In Daniel Pearl Case

Washington [US]: The United States is ready to take custody of terrorist Omar Sheikh to stand trial in the American journalist Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder case, said US Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A Rosen.

In a statement, Rosen said the judicial rulings reversing Omar Sheikh conviction and ordering his release are an "affront to terrorism victims everywhere".

Rosen statement comes days after the Sindh High Court directed to release terrorist Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib, the accused in the abduction and murder case of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

In 2002, Pearl, the 38-year-old journalist of The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story of terror groups' links to Al Qaeda.

"...The separate judicial rulings reversing his conviction and ordering his release are an affront to terrorism victims everywhere. We remain grateful for the Pakistani government's actions to appeal such rulings to ensure that he and his co-defendants are held accountable," Rosen said on Tuesday.

"If, however, those efforts do not succeed, the United States stands ready to take custody of Omar Sheikh to stand trial here. We cannot allow him to evade justice for his role in Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder," he added.

US State Department had also expressed deep concerns over the Sindh High Court ruling to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl.

According to Daily Pakistan, the Sindh High Court also ordered putting the names of accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Shaikh and others in the exit control list (ECL).

The accused have been in jail for the last 18 years and ordered the accused to appear as and when the court summons them.