BAGHDAD, 11 June 2006 — An autopsy was being performed yesterday on slain insurgent 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 autopsy is going on right now as we speak and will be concluded by the evening,” coalition forces spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters.
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 coalition forces appeared. “We are doing the autopsy to see how he actually died,” said Caldwell, adding that there were no gunshot wounds on the corpse.
On Wednesday, an F-16 launched two 500-pound (227-kilogram) 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, 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.” Caldwell 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.
