White House: Washington angry over the release of journalist Pearl’s killer in Pakistan

The White House has expressed its outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision in Pakistan to release an Islamist militant convicted of beheading US journalist Daniel Pearl.

White House spokeswoman Jane Psaki described the decision as “an insult to victims of terrorism everywhere.”

A three-judge panel acquitted Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Pearl, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal in 2002.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court today ruled to release four people accused of killing the journalist.

Pearl was director of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asia office when he was kidnapped and slaughtered while preparing an investigation into militant groups in Pakistan.

A British-born militant was convicted of plotting the murder together with three others, but the Supreme Court in Pakistan upheld a ruling acquitting the defendants.

The victim’s lawyer said the Pearl’s family was “in total shock,” describing the court’s decision as a “disregard for justice.”

US officials said they would try to initiate legal proceedings against Omar Saeed Sheikh, known as Sheikh Omar, who is accused of murdering Pearl, for trial in the United States.

Source: Agencies