A Pakistani court will hear an appeal by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh against his death sentence for the kidnap and murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl.
The British-born Islamic militant's three co-accused have also filed appeals against their convictions.
Chief prosecutor Raj Qureshi said the court has also admitted an appeal by the state to change the life terms given to the three to death sentences.
|
|
A photograph distributed by Mr Pearl's kidnappers in January showing him in chains
|
Mr Pearl, a 38-year-old reporter with the
Wall Street Journal
, was researching a story on Islamic militancy when he was kidnapped. A videotape later surfaced showing he had been murdered.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, better known as Sheikh Omar, was sentenced to death and three accomplices jailed for life in July after a trial before a special anti-terrorism court.
But some media reports argued the murder convictions could be overturned if it emerged that police had withheld DNA test results until the trial was over and had failed to tell the court about the arrest of a man who led them to the body for fear of complicating the case.
The prosecution said police had traced e-mails sent to news organisations, showing Mr Pearl in chains with a gun to his head, to the kidnap gang through an Internet cafe.
The prosecution's case was also based on evidence from a taxi driver who said he saw Mr Pearl getting into a car with Omar.