Tests show remains are Pearl's body

Abdul Waheed Katpar (center), a defense lawyer for Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, checks documents as he arrives at Sindh High Court in Karachi

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- DNA tests on a body found buried on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, have shown it is the remains of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Formal results of the DNA tests have not been released by Pakistani officials but government officials have confirmed the remains as being those of the murdered reporter.

Pakistani authorities said in May they found the remains buried in a yard close to a one-room structure where they believe the kidnapped reporter may have been held hostage.

Police said they were directed to the body by three men who were arrested in Karachi in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Pearl, 38.

On Monday, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born Islamic militant, was sentenced to death by hanging by an anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad for Pearl's murder. Three accomplices received life sentences, which in Pakistan usually means 25 years.

MORE STORIES Pearl killer files appeal     CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

Lawyers for Saeed Sheikh -- also known as Omar Saeed -- said Friday they filed an appeal in Karachi against both the ruling and the sentence, claiming the verdict was based upon "Fake, false and provenly planted evidence." (Full story)

Pearl disappeared in January while researching a story in Karachi about Pakistani militants and accused terrorist Richard Reid.

A few days after Pearl disappeared, the previously unknown National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty announced his kidnapping in e-mails to U.S. and Pakistani news organizations. Photographs of Pearl were attached.

A videotape of the reporter's killing was sent to U.S. officials in February.