al-Zarqawi: Autopsy Complete, More Violence
The U.S. Military runs another delay ruse by us. Just this morning, the New York Times reported:
With rumors circulating in the Iraqi news media that Mr. Zarqawi had begun to run from the house as the first bomb struck, American officials said Saturday that two military pathologists had arrived in Iraq to perform an autopsy on his body to determine the precise cause of his death. The results from the autopsy, and Mr. Zarqawi's precise location at the time of the airstrike, will be disclosed soon, an American military official said.
The autopsy is now complete but the military is not releasing it yet.
"The autopsy is completed. However, we are not releasing results yet," Maj. William Willhoite told The Associated Press. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said officials were awaiting the results of a DNA test.
Why do they need to wait for the DNA test, which will take 2 to 3 days, when Gen. Casey said on Fox News today they are 100% sure the dead man was al-Zarqawi.
We have a 100 percent match on the fingerprints, and we have a good match on scars and tattoos on the body.
It now appears there are two witnesses to the alleged beating of wounded Zarqawi after his capture? The LA Times reports:
An Iraqi police lieutenant who said he was among the first people at the scene told The Times on Saturday that after Iraqi police had carried Zarqawi to the ambulance on the stretcher, U.S. troops took him off the stretcher and placed him on the ground. One of the Americans tried to question Zarqawi and repeatedly stepped on his chest, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, said the lieutenant, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A man identified only as Mohammed, who said he lived near the Zarqawi hide-out, told Associated Press Television News that he had witnessed Americans beating Zarqawi. "They stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose," he said.
Meanwhile, in additon to the violence already occurring as a result of al-Zarqawi's assassination, more is being threatened by an Islamic website purportedly belonging to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
"We plan large-scaled operations that will shake the enemy and rob them of sleep," the statement said.
So far,
Four people are killed and at least 10 injured in a car bomb attack in the central Karrada district of Baghdad
A bomb attack in the north of the city severely injures a senior police officer, Maj-Gen Ali Hussein, and kills his driver
Gunmen shoot dead an official of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's party the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and at least one other person in the northern oil city of Kirkuk
Police in the southern town of Amara say five civilians were killed in a gun battle between British troops and insurgents on Saturday which left one British soldier wounded.
Update: Another news report citing two witnesses to beating Zarqawi.
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