Washington DC, December 25: A day after Pakistan court-ordered release of multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, the United States expressed deep concerns over the release saying, "we continue to stand with the Pearl family through this extremely difficult process."

 

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the US State Department tweeted, "We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,"

 

 

 

 

"We understand that this case is ongoing and will be following closely. We continue to stand with the Pearl family through this extremely difficult process. We continue to honour Daniel Pearl's legacy as a courageous journalist," it added.

 

 

 

 

The court ordered the release of Omar and his associates -- Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib, and Sheikh Adil, in the abduction and murder case of Pearl. A two-judge bench of the Sindh High Court directed security agencies not to keep Sheikh and other accused under "any sort of detention" and declared all notifications of the Sindh government related to their detention "null and void". They will walk out from Karachi's Central Jail on Saturday.

 

However, Jail Superintendent, the four men could not be released from Karachi's Central Jail on Thursday as the prison authorities received orders from the Sindh High Court for their release very late. According to the legal counsel for the four men, they would now be released on Saturday as Friday is a public holiday in the country.