DEATH SENTENCE FOR PEARL MURDER

Omar Sheikh’s three co-accused, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil, were also found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, which usually means 25 years in jail in Pakistan.
Execution in Pakistan is usually by hanging, but Omar Sheikh´s defence team says it will appeal against the ruling to the Sindh High Court and to Pakistan´s Supreme Court if necessary before the sentence is carried out.
Omar Sheikh said that the trial was a "waste of time" in a "decisive war between Islam and infidels", according to a statement issued through his lawyer after the verdict.
"I will see whether who wants to kill me will first kill me or get himself killed," he said, according to his lawyer, Rai Bashir.
Pearl, 38, was kidnapped in Karachi while researching Islamic fundamentalism for the Wall Street Journal.
He was taken by the previously unknown National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, who demanded the release of al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters being held by the Americans in Cuba in return for Pearl´s release.
Omar Sheikh was accused of masterminding Pearl´s killing, which was filmed in gruesome detail and sent to US officials.
There has been enormous international pressure on the Pakistani authorities to show results in this case, but the proceedings have been shrouded in secrecy, with journalists denied access to the trial.
In New York, Steven Goldstein, vice-president of the Wall Street Journal´s parent company, Dow Jones, hailed the verdict.
"We continue to mourn Danny Pearl. And we continue to hope that everyone responsible for his kidnapping and murder will be brought to justice," Mr Goldstein said in a statement.
"Today´s verdict is one step in that direction."
Defence lawyer Rai Bashir alleged that the court was pushed into the verdict by the Pakistani Government to please the United States.
"President (Pervez) Musharraf had already announced that he wanted the death penalty for Omar," Mr Bashir said.
Omar Sheikh´s father, Ahmed Saeed, said his son was "relaxed and composed" after learning he had been sentenced to death.
"My son was innocent before the trial even started, but the president of Pakistan awarded the death sentence to him and through the court today the same sentence was announced," he said.
The British Foreign Office said it welcomed the guilty verdict, but opposed the death penalty in all circumstances.
The trial has angered Islamic militants, who accuse Pakistan´s government of betraying them by abandoning the Afghan Taleban and supporting the United States after 11 September.
A body that police believe may be that of Mr Pearl was found in May, but the results of DNA tests have yet to be announced.