A PAKISTANI court today cancelled the death sentence of the man charged with the 2002 murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, paving the way for his release within a matter of days.

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was born in Britain, had the murder conviction overturned on the grounds that it had not been proven, according to his lawyer, Khawaja Naveed.

Mr Sheikh was instead found guilty of kidnapping the Wall Street reporter and given a seven-year prison sentence, though he has already spent much longer behind bars.

Three other men jailed for life were also acquitted by the Sindh High Court.

Mr Pearl disappeared in January 2002 after travelling to Pakistan to research militant Islamist activity shortly after the September 11 terror attacks.

In February 2002, US authorities confirmed his death after they were sent video footage of him being beheaded.

Mr Sheikh was charged soon afterwards.

But a group of journalists, including former colleagues of Mr Pearl, cast doubt on the conviction after it emerged that Pakistani authorities had pressured a taxi driver to change his evidence and place Mr Sheikh near the scene of the killing.

While admitting his role in the kidnapping, Mr Sheikh has always insisted he was not in Karachi when the journalist was beheaded.

Al-Qaida operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has claimed to have carried out the killing.