HYDERABAD, July 9: Proceedings of the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case had to be suspended for some time on Tuesday when the chief prosecutor and a defence counsel indulged in altercation loudly over ‘uncalled for’ remarks by the latter.

Both the sides told newsmen later that the defence counsel, Rai Basheer Ahmed, had accused the chief prosecutor, Raja Qureshi, and his team of working for the US and its FBI to earn dollars.

Mr Qureshi objected to the allegation and accused Mr Ahmed of passing indecent remarks against the prosecution and the country. He urged the ATC Judge, Syed Ali Ashraf Shah, to restrain the defence counsel.

On his part, Mr Ahmed said that the prosecution was using the foreign propaganda language against the accused in the case. He told newsmen that such propaganda was aimed at branding Pakistan a terrorist state.

He claimed that the charges levelled by the prosecution were meant to appease the US. “It indicated that Raja Qureshi cherished dollars more than the sovereignty of the country,” Mr Ahmed quoted himself as telling the court.