Pearl trial brings death threat

Sheikh Aslam, brother of one of the accomplices, has also called for an uprising

HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- Officials involved in the conviction of a British-born Islamic militant for the murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl have received anonymous death threats.

Pakistani police on Tuesday said the letter claimed officials would be murdered if the death sentence handed down to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was carried out, according to wire reports.

Security was immediately stepped up at the Hyderabad jail where the trial took place.

Saeed Sheikh, a British-born Islamic militant, was convicted Monday of the kidnap-slaying of Pearl and was condemned to death by hanging. Three accomplices received life sentences, which in Pakistan means 25 years.

The letter threatened retaliation "in a very heavy way" if Saeed Sheikh was hanged or "manhandled" in prison. The letter was postmarked Monday but officials did not say from where it was sent.

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Hyderabad's police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters by telephone that the letter was signed off "mujahid (holy warrior) Changez Khan," but police were treating the name as a pseudonym.

"We have killed Russians, we will also kill you (as) we are mujahids," Ansari quoted the letter as saying.

"We are taking this letter seriously and have tightened the security of the judge and the jailer," he said. "We have also improved the intelligence network to know who has sent the letter."

Execution in Pakistan is carried out by hanging, but usually only after an exhaustive appeals process. A life sentence generally means up to 25 years in jail.

Defiant

Pearl, 38, was researching a story on Islamic fundamentalism for the Wall Street Journal when he was kidnapped in the port city of Karachi on January 23. (Timeline)

A videotape emerged clearly showing he had been killed.

Police found a body in a shallow grave outside Karachi in May but it has not been announced officially as Pearl's.

Saeed Sheikh was defiant after receiving his death sentence.

"I will see whether who wants to kill me will first kill me or get himself killed," he said, in a message read out by his lawyer, Rai Bashir.

Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors said they had filed an appeal seeking the death penalty for the three other men found guilty in the case, Reuters news agency reported.

Chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi said an appeal had been filed at the provincial Sindh High Court for a tougher punishment for Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil.

"The normal sentence is the death penalty," he said. "There is no reason assigned by the trial court for giving a lesser punishment."

The court has not set a date for the hearing.

Defense lawyers also plan to appeal against Monday's judgment.

The trial comes at a sensitive time for the United States as it faces criticism from Muslims over its support for Israel in the Middle East and seeks to maintain Pakistan's support for its war on terror launched after the September 11 attacks.