KARACHI, May 19: The Sindh government on Friday withdrew its appeal in Supreme Court filed against acquittal of Dr Akmal Waheed and his brother Dr Arshad Waheed.

As the matter taken up before SC's two member bench, comprising Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, the provincial law officer requested the court for withdrawing the appeal.

The court, granting the request, dismissed the appeal as withdrawn.

The state had filed a leave to appeal in a case of acquittal of Dr Akmal Waheed and Arsahd Waheed initially booked for their alleged connections with Al-Qaeda and later detained for links with terrorist elements.

The doctor brothers were earlier sentenced to an aggregate 18 years in prison by anti- terrorism court on March 14, 2005, for sheltering, and providing medical treatment to Junduallah activists, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwa and Mohammad Qasim, and for not furnishing information to authorities concerned.

The Sindh High Court had, however, set aside the conviction awarded by the trial court and acquitted Dr Akmal Waheed, a cardiac specialist of NICVD and Dr Arshad Waheed, a kidney physician of JMPC, of the above charges.—PPI/APP