Karachi (AFP)

A British extremist sentenced to death in 2002 for the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl that same year saw the sentence canceled, his lawyer Khawja Naveed told AFP.

Omar Sheikh, whose real name is Ahmed Saeed Sheikh, saw his sentence commuted to 7 years in prison, a period covered by his 18 years in detention, said Mr. Naveed.

The floor was not available for comment. His release order has not yet been issued, the lawyer continued.

Three other lifers in this case were acquitted, he added.

Daniel Pearl, 38, a correspondent for the American daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal, disappeared on January 23, 2002 in Karachi. A video showing his beheading was given a month later to the US consulate in this metropolis in southern Pakistan.

An independent investigation carried out for three years within the framework of the "Pearl Project" had however determined in 2011 that the Pakistani justice had gone astray, the four men condemned for the assassination of Daniel Pearl were not even present during his execution .

According to Asra Nomani, a former colleague and a friend of the journalist of the Wall Street Journal, who had directed this investigation, it is indeed Khaled Cheikh Mohammed (KSM according to his initials in English), the self-claimed brain of the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, who had executed him.

"KSM", arrested in 2003, is imprisoned in the American prison at Guantanamo, located in Cuba. A psychologist who interviewed him said that the inmate had confessed to him that he had beheaded Daniel Pearl.

© 2020 AFP