Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died from injuries consistent with the results of a bomb blast, US military officials have said. Questions had arisen over how he had died after the Americans revealed he had still been alive following the bombing of a safe house by US planes. US military officials said an autopsy had revealed that the cause of death was a blast injury to the lungs. DNA analysis had confirmed the corpse was Zarqawi's, they added. US military doctor Col Steve Jones said the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq had "no evidence of beating or any firearm injuries".
His spiritual adviser Sheikh Abd-al-Rahman was killed instantly in the US air strike on Zarqawi's safe house near the city of Baquba on Wednesday, Col Jones said.