The Pakistan government has said it will formally join the review proceedings initiated by the Sindh administration against the Supreme Court’s acquittal of British-born al-Qaida terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three aides in the brutal murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, amid mounting pressure from the US and the UN.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country’s powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaida.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of main accused Sheikh and his aides — Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib — by dismissing appeals against their acquittal by Sindh High Court. The judgment was denounced by Pearl’s family as “a complete travesty of justice”.

The Sindh government on Friday filed a review petition in the apex court against the acquittal of Sheikh and his three accomplices.

A spokesman of the attorney-general of Pakistan on Saturday announced that the federal government would file an appropriate application before the Supreme Court to be allowed to join as a party in the proceedings and further seek review and recall of the court’s January 28 judgment.

The federal government will file an application for the constitution of a larger bench to hear the review petitions. “In cooperation with the provincial government, the federal government will continue to take all legal steps to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said.