Judge considers verdict as Pearl murder trial ends

HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- The trial of four Islamic militants charged with the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl ended Wednesday, and the judge retired to consider the verdict.\nJudge Ali Ashraf Shah scheduled court proceedings for Monday to hand down a verdict. However, it is not uncommon in Pakistani courts for the verdict to be delayed beyond the scheduled delivery time.\nLawyers for British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three co-defendants argued for a dismissal of the charges, saying the evidence was inconsistent, legal procedures had been ignored and some of the evidence seemed to have been fabricated.\nPearl disappeared in January while investigating links between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, who was arrested in December on a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives in his shoes. In late February, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan receives a videotape showing Pearl's death.