Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the release from prison on Tuesday of Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, a ringleader in the kidnapping and murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl by al Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist militants in 2002.
Pakistan's government had appealed to the court on Friday to review its decision to free the British-born Islamist and three others convicted in the case, a day after their acquittal by a panel of three judges.
The United States also expressed concern over Sheikh's acquittal, and top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken repeated a call for accountability in his first phone call with Pakistan's foreign minister on Friday.