Religious parties in Pakistan reacted sharply to the...

Religious parties in Pakistan reacted sharply to the death sentence gievn to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh for the killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl saying his trial was unfair and aimed at appeasing the US.Legal requirements were not fulfilled in the trial, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed said."Omar Saeed Sheikh was made scapegoat in the case. This act is highly condemnable," Qazi told reporters here.The Chief of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of six religious groups, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani said the trial should be reopened.The Jamiat Ulema Islam leader Abdul Karim Abid said the penalty was aimed at appeasing the US. "It is not our verdict at all. Sheikh Omar is innocent and the government made him a culprit to appease the United States".