Father of a convicted killer, Sheikh Omar, yesterday said he was in "high spirits" as his appeal resumed at a Pakistan court. Sheikh Omar has been sentenced to death for the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. "I have met my son recently and he is in high spirits despite so many years in jail," Ahmed Saeed, father of British-born Sheikh Omar, said outside the Sindh High Court in the southern city of Karachi. Saeed, who lives in London and has traveled to Pakistan for the hearing, declined to speak further.Omar was convicted and given the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the US journalist's death by an anti-terrorism court in June 2002. His appeal has been pending for over two years. Relatives of three other men appealing against life sentences linked to the Pearl case — Salman Saqib, Sheikh Adil and Fahd Naseem — also attended the hearing, and silently witnessed the court proceedings amid tight security. Sheikh Omar and his three fellow convicts were not in court. It was the second session of the hearing at Sindh High Court. The next is due today. Sheikh Omar's lawyer Abdul Waheed Katpar told reporters that his client was not guilty of the brutal killing.
| "No, no! Certainly not!" |