BAGHDAD, June 10: An autopsy was performed on Saturday on slain guerilla leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as search operations continued in a bid to track down followers of the former Al-Qaeda in Iraq chief.
The move was in response to repeated queries about the conditions of Zarqawi’s death, especially after it was revealed he was alive when Iraqi and US forces appeared.
“We are doing the autopsy to see how he actually died,” said Gen Caldwell, a spokesman for the US Army, adding that there were no gunshot wounds on the corpse.
On Wednesday, an F-16 launched two 227-kg bombs, one laser-guided and one GPS-guided, at Zarqawi’s safe house northeast of Baghdad.
Two military experts were flown in to perform the autopsy, Gen Caldwell said, adding that they would be sensitive to Muslim traditions about dealing with the body.
“They are very familiar with this kind of thing. One of them has the information and knows the customs and traditions of the religion,” he said. He also clarified that there ‘were no gunshot wounds on his body’.
The general said the body was now in Baghdad under 24-hour guard and that afterward it would be up to the Iraqi government where it will be sent.
The spokesman also clarified that of the three females killed in the raid, one was a girl between the ages of five and seven, while all three males killed were adults.
“There was no male child killed in the raid,” he said. One of the male bodies could not be identified and was being handed over to the Iraqi health ministry.
The results on DNA tests on Zarqawi are expected in a day or two, according to US officials.
“We were told yesterday (Friday) that the results would be ready in three days,” US military spokesman Major William Wilhoite said.
After the strike Zarqawi was identified through facial recognition and known scars on his body, and samples of his DNA were flown to Washington for analysis.—AFP
