A body found dumped on a roadside in Pakistan -originally thought to be that of missing US journalist Mr Daniel Pearl, US media reported today, quoting Pakistani police.
Police originally said Mr Pearl's body was found in the southern port city of Karachi. The dead man had been shot through the mouth, according to reports.
The US State Department said earlier it was looking into the reports.
The 38-year-old Wall Street Journalcorrespondent disappeared January 23 in Karachi after telling his wife he was going to meet the leader of a little-known militant Islamic organisation.
A hitherto unknown group calling itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, which sent a series of e-mails earlier in the week with photos of Mr Pearl in captivity, had threatened to kill him by Thursday, then extended the deadline to Friday.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell rejected any negotiations on the captors' demand that the US release Pakistanis among those prisoners held at its naval base in Cuba and improve the conditions of the other prisoners there.
Meanwhile White House national security adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice renewed the call for Mr Pearl’s immediate release today.
Ms Rice also said the US was working closely with the government of Pakistan to obtain his release.
AFP