The verdict was passed by a two-judge bench- headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha- of the Sindh High Court.

Since the prime accused Sheikh has been in prison for the last 18 years, he is expected to be released while three other convicts, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil, who were earlier handed over life sentence.

The court has rejected the state's plea seeking an enhancement of the three accused's life imprisonment.

An anti-terrorism court in 2002 had convicted Sheikh and the three others for abducting and murdering the 38-year old bureau chief who was researching a story on the religious extremism in Pakistan's Karachi.

A report released by the Pearl Project at Georgetown University after a probe into the murder of Pearl had said wrong men were convicted for the crime, NDTV reported.

The investigation had revealed Pearl was murdered not by Sheikh but by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attack in the United States.

Mohammad has been held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay detention camp under the charges of terrorism.

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