Forensic specialists arrive in Iraq for Zarqawi autopsy

Two forensic specialists have arrived in Iraq to examine the remains of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted insurgent in the country, the U.S. military said Saturday.

An autopsy will be performed to see how al-Zarqawi actually died and to reconstruct the last minutes of his life, said William Caldwell, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad.

He added that the decision to fly in forensic experts was made shortly after the death of al-Zarqawi, who was killed along with several of his followers in a U.S. air strike Wednesday evening near Baquba, 60 km north of Baghdad.

The autopsy came after the U.S. military altered its initial statement on al-Zarqawi's death, first saying he died outright in a U.S. air strike, then saying he survived but died soon after.

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, with a 25-million-U.S. dollar bounty on his head, is believed to be the top leader of the al-Qaida terror group in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua