U.S. sources: Body appears to be Pearl's

Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl in a photograph e-mailed to news organizations before he was slain.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. State Department sources said Friday that remains recovered by police in Karachi, Pakistan, appear to be the body of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.

The two sources said one final test should provide a definitive answer.

Pakistani authorities said they found the remains buried in a yard on the outskirts of Karachi, close to a one-room structure where they believe the kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter may have been held hostage.

Police said they were directed to the body by three men who were arrested late Thursday evening in Karachi in connection with the kidnapping and murder of the 38-year-old reporter.

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After the men said they had buried Pearl at the location, police went to the scene and found the buried body of a white male.

Investigators said a gray chair found inside the adjacent structure resembles a chair Pearl was photographed sitting in. Those photos were e-mailed to news organizations in January. Forensic investigators are testing blood found inside the building, the sources said.

This is not the first time Pakistani police have said they found a body they believed to be Pearl's. Soon after Pearl disappeared in early February, a search recovered the body of a white male that turned out not to be his.

Police did not immediately reveal the identities of the three men who were arrested. Four men accused in the kidnapping and slaying have been on trial in Hyderabad, and warrants were issued for seven others.

Pearl was kidnapped January 23 by Muslim extremists and confirmed dead by the State Department on February 21 after authorities obtained a video in which Pearl was forced to make propaganda statements and was killed.

From CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi and Producer Mohsin Naqvi