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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pakistani Authorities Trying to Find Out if Body is American Journalist Daniel Pearl's

Aired May 17, 2002 - 06:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistani authorities are trying to find out if a body they found is indeed that of American journalist, Daniel Pearl. DNA testing will have to be done to confirm it. The remains were found on the outskirts of Karachi. Police were directed to the site last night by three men who were arrested in the case.

Our Islamabad bureau chief, Ash-Har Quraishi, joins us live by videophone again with more details -- good morning.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Carol. A team of forensic medical experts arrived at the scene where this body was discovered. They have been surveying the evidence there, as well as the body itself. We expect DNA tests to be the final say on whether or not this is in fact the body of "The Wall Street Journal" reporter, Daniel Pearl.

So far, police and government officials are being very careful as to positively identifying this, but the government says they are fairly sure that it is the body of Daniel Pearl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RASHID QUERESHI, PAKISTANI PRES. SPOKESMAN: The news that we have got so far is that it seems to be Daniel Pearl's body. We are waiting for a confirmation, because we want to be 100 percent sure that there is no mistake in this. There may be some DNA tests. Otherwise from what I have heard, it's most likely that it is his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QURAISHI: One reason that the government and police officials are being very careful as to positively identifying this body as Daniel Pearl. As you'll remember after the kidnapping in late January and early February, there were also reports that a body had been dumped in the cemetery in Karachi, that of a white male that was believed to be Daniel Pearl.

It had been reported in the media, as well as by police that it was in fact Daniel Pearl's body. That wasn't the case then. But the government and sources that we have say that they are fairly certain that this is Daniel Pearl's body. One thing we want to show you, the photograph that was sent of Daniel Pearl in captivity. It shows him sitting in front of a sheet on top of some sort of a gray seat that some people believe may be a car seat. Sources tell us that inside the small one-room building outside where this body was found, a similar setup was found inside there, along with some blood.

So they say that the evidence all points to the fact that this is, in fact, Daniel Pearl's body, but they say they will not confirm this 100 percent until DNA tests come back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ash-Har, we also understand from the AP that some buttons off the shirt of Daniel Pearl were found inside that one-room shed. Have you heard about that?

QURAISHI: We have. We have seen reports of police saying that there were buttons found inside, as well as a jacket that was seen in one of those photographs that Daniel Pearl was wearing, found inside this shallow grave outside of this one-room building.

So they say that there is very strong evidence this is, in fact, Daniel Pearl's body, but again, they are not going to say this 100 percent until those DNA tests come back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Are American FBI officials involved in that DNA testing?

QURAISHI: That's a good question. We do know that of the forensic experts that were on the scene, there were Pakistani officials mostly, a DNA expert included in those experts. There has been no official word as to whether or not the FBI is involved, whether or not they are involved in this DNA testing.

Still not clear where the DNA testing will occur, whether it will be sent out or whether it will be done here in Pakistan, but those details still coming out right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: One more question for you, Ash-Har. We understand that the body was found about 500 yards from a religious school that was founded by a member of the Taliban. Can you tell us anymore about that?

QURAISHI: Yes. Well, in this case, you know, obviously when we were in Karachi, we did see a lot of speculation as to who might be involved or maybe responsible for this incident.

As you may recall, the original suspect in this case, Sheikh Jilani, was actually released when it was found out that he had actually nothing to do with kidnapping. It was a tactic used to lure Daniel Pearl whoever the kidnappers really were.

So there had been no actual connection made between this religious school and the incident, except for the fact that it is nearby. But then again, there are a lot of mosques in that area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ash-Har Quraishi, live from Islamabad. Many questions still remain from Pakistan, and hopefully we'll know something concrete soon so all of this can be finally over.

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