Pakistan is not handing over the prime suspect who was convicted and later acquitted in a murder case of US journalist Daniel Pearl to Washington, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday. He was commenting on reports doing rounds in Islamabad after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered to prosecute British-born accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the US for his “horrific crimes against an American citizen” during a telephone conversation with him on Friday. “Reports regarding handing over of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to the US are baseless,” a private TV channel cited the foreign minister as saying. “I spoke to the US secretary of state, who expressed his concern over the Supreme Court judgement,” he said while referring to the acquittal of all four accused, including Sheikh by the apex court on Thursday. “I told him [Blinken] that our courts are independent,” he went on saying. However, Qureshi added that the government has filed a review petition against Sheikh’s acquittal, which will be heard on Monday by the same court. Pearl’s parents have also announced joining the review proceedings. Meanwhile, Qureshi said that Pakistan was committed to sustainable peace in Afghanistan and would continue to facilitate Afghan peace process. During an interaction with journalists, he said that peaceful political settlement in Afghanistan was not only in favour of Pakistan but also for the whole region. The foreign minister said that Pakistan had played a role of facilitator to bring both parties on the table for dialogue and added that these efforts would continue in future. The foreign minister said that he told Blinken that Prime Minister Imran Khan had a vision that placed premium on forging economic partnership, building a peaceful neighbourhood and enhancing regional connectivity. The US secretary of state had also been informed about sacrifices of Pakistan in war against terrorism, he added. Qureshi maintained that Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Joe Biden had similarities in their priorities as both of them were committed to work on corruption eradication, money laundering, climate change and other issues. He said that it had been decided during telephonic conversation to remain engaged and work together on advancing the two countries’ bilateral agenda and promoting common interests in the region and beyond. To a question, Qureshi said that representatives of United States and other countries had been informed about India’s activities against Pakistan, adding that a dossier had already been provided to the world in that regard. He said that eradication of corruption was on the top priority of the incumbent government, as economic stability was not possible without it. He said that the government had retrieved state land and other properties from grabbers during the last few weeks. Replying to yet another question, Qureshi said that it would be the decision of Pakistan People’s Party if they nominate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani as candidate of Senate chairman, adding that the PPP had not required numbers to elect him as senator from Punjab. Qureshi, responding to another question, said that everyone knew that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would not resign from assemblies, as PPP was not interested in leaving the government in Sindh.