Daniel Pearl
Daniel PearlReuters

The family of slain Jewish American journalist Daniel Pearl will challenge an order by Pakistan's top court to release the terrorist acquitted of masterminding his kidnapping and brutal murder in 2002, AFP reported Sunday.

Pakistan's Supreme Court last Thursday ruled that the four men convicted of kidnapping and murdering Pearl should go free, including British national Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.

Pearl was working as the South Asia bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in 2002 when he was kidnapped in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

The kidnappers later filmed Pearl's beheading and sent it to United States officials. It was among the first propaganda videos targeting hostages created by extremists, and helped to inspire other terror groups to film horrific and egregious acts of violence.

Sheikh was acquitted last year of murdering Pearl but had been held while Pearl’s family appealed.

In April last year, a high court in Sindh province, where Karachi is located, overturned the convictions of three of the four men and reduced Sheikh's sentence to seven years in prison, meaning he was eligible for release on time served.

In December, the court overturned a government detention order that Sheikh should remain in custody.

"The Pearl family intends to file a review petition against the illegal and unjust majority decision," parents Ruth and Judea Pearl said in a statement that was tweeted by the murdered journalist's friend and former Wall Street Journal colleague Asra Nomani.

"It is beyond belief that Ahmad Omar Sheikh -- who after 18 years of lies, had finally admitted in a handwritten letter to the court his role in the kidnapping for ransom of Daniel Pearl -- has been given a clean slate and let loose once again upon the world to continue his international terrorist activities," added the statement.

The White House responded to last Thursday’s ruling by saying the US is "outraged" by the decision, which was called by press secretary Jen Psaki an "affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, “I am deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder. We are committed to securing justice for the Pearl family and holding terrorists accountable.”