Convicted killer appeals death sentence

A man convicted and sentenced to death in the killing of 100 children in Pakistan has filed an appeal in an effort to have his sentence overturned.

Last week, a judge found Javed Iqbal guilty of killing 100 children and sentenced him to die as his victims' died: strangled, his body cut into 100 pieces and dissolved in a vat of acid.

Judge Allah Baksh Ranja found Iqbal guilty of sexually molesting his victims, before strangling them and dissolving their remains in a vat of acid. The case, Pakistan's worst known serial killing, has generated outrage throughout the nation.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider has criticized the sentence, saying the army-led government would challenge it.

Iqbal, who originally confessed to the killings in statements to police, later recanted and pleaded innocent. No date for his appeal has been set.

Ranja also sentenced Iqbal to 700 years in prison. An accomplice also was sentenced to death, and two other men, both juveniles, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Filing the appeal on behalf of Iqbal, lawyer Najeeb Faisal said police failed to prove his client's guilt.