AN autopsy is being carried out today on insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a US air strike earlier this week. "The autopsy is going on right now as we speak and will be concluded by the evening," coalition spokesman Major General William Caldwell said.Gen. Caldwell said 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 Gen. Caldwell.
Two military experts were flown in to perform the autopsy, Gen. Caldwell said, adding that they would be sensitive to Muslim sensibilities 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. Gen. Caldwell would not specify the location of Zarqawi's body.