Four men acquitted in Daniel Pearl murder case re-arrested

The four men acquitted in Daniel Pearl murder case have been re-arrested, just a day after a court overturned their convictions.

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 4 : The four men acquitted in Del Pearl murder case have been re-arrested, just a day after a court overturned their convictions.

The interior ministry, on Friday, said that the provincial government would file an appeal against the court ruling in the Supreme Court next week.

On Thursday the High Court in Sindh Province overturned the murder conviction of Ahmed Omar Sheikh, a British-born militant accused of masterminding the 2002 abduction and killing of Pearl. It also overturned his death sentence, reducing it to seven years, a move that would have allowed him to be freed for time served. The convictions of three other men in the case of murder and terrorism charges were also overturned.

The court decision was widely condemned by American officials and journalists' groups, The New York Times reported.

Alice G. Wells, a senior State Department official said, "The overturning of the convictions for Del Pearl's murder is an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere."

"Those responsible for Del's heinous kidnapping and murder must face the full measure of justice," she added.

On Friday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that the men's release was halted after they were rearrested through a measure allowing the government to hold suspects for three months.

The ministry said it "reiterates its commitment to follow the due process under the laws of the country to bring terrorists to the task."

Pearl, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and killed in 2002 in the southern port city of Karachi while he was working on an investigation about terror groups' links to Al Qaeda.

( With inputs from ANI )