ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A body found in a shallow grave in the southern city of Karachi has been identified as that of Daniel Pearl, the American reporter who disappeared there in January, according to forensic evidence that U.S. officials are handing over to the Pakistani police, several officials said yesterday.

Investigators had assumed that the body, which was discovered in May, was Pearl's, but results from DNA tests conducted then have not been made public.

The results are expected to help prosecutors try other suspects in the kidnapping and killing of Pearl, 38, the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. But legal experts say it could also open up grounds for four men convicted to appeal.

On Monday, a judge handed down a death sentence against Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, 28. Three others were sentenced to life in prison.