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ATC acquits man convicted of Karachi attack on French

* Sohail Habib acquitted due to lack of substantial evidence by prosecution

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sindh on Friday acquitted a man sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 bombing that killed 11 French engineers, the highest number of foreigners to have died in a single attack in the country.

Sohail Habib, who allegedly belonged to the extremist group Harkatul Mujahideen al-Aalmi, was sentenced to death in absentia in 2003 for the May 2002 attack outside Karachi’s Sheraton Hotel that also killed three Pakistanis.

Sohail was arrested in 2005, but was acquitted after a six-month retrial in the ATC ordered on appeal by the Sindh High Court, officials said.

“The accused has been acquitted due to a lack of substantive evidence on the part of the prosecution,” defence lawyer Owais Jamal said.

Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon said: “The court heard arguments from both sides and hereby acquits the accused as the prosecution did not provide any substantial evidence against him.”

The Sindh government says it will appeal the verdict. “We’ll challenge the decision in the high court soon,” said Sindh Advocate General Yousuf Leghari. afp

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