Kidnapper Of 'WSJ' Reporter Sentenced To Death

By: Kathy Gannon, Associated Press Writer (AP) The road outside the Hyderabad jail was deserted -- except for armored personnel carriers and jeeps with machine guns mounted on the back. On a nearby rooftop, the helmets of sharpshooters could be seen.

Inside the jail, in a courtroom within the high walls of the compound, a judge handed down a guilty verdict Monday against British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three co-defendants. Saeed was sentenced to die by hanging in the kidnap-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The three others were sentenced to life in prison.

Police said the verdict could incite militant Muslims to retaliate.

"We are not taking any chances," Police Chief Moazzam Ansari said. "The terrorists have hideous designs. It is not a fair war they are waging. It is a very different war."

He said 2,000 police and paramilitary Rangers were patrolling the chaotic Hyderabad streets, where motorized rickshaws careen around horse-drawn carts, darting in and out of traffic, avoiding brightly decorated buses that spew black smoke.

On the main road, hundreds of trucks overloaded with produce and piles of wheat pass through Hyderabad en route to the Arabian Sea, 110 miles to the southwest.

Lush lawns and vivid pink bougainvillea camouflage the dreariness of the Hyderabad jail, which holds 2,696 inmates, most of whom have not yet been tried, according to Brig. Mehar Nisar, inspector general of prisons in southern Sindh Province.

Beyond the thick steel doors that lead to the prison, policemen in stern, gray uniforms search everyone who enters. A large padlock slams closed.

Saeed has been held in a separate compound with his co-defendants, away from the main prison population. He was expected to be moved to the jail's death row, where 79 other prisoners are already held.

It's barely two hours since the verdict. Saeed's father, Ahmed Sheikh, clutches a pale green file folder. He moves quickly up and down the wooden stairs covered in a rotting red carpet. Inside his folders are details of his son's trial.

"We won't give up," he said. "We will exhaust all relief available from every court."