IRAQ U.S. conducts raids around Baghdad

Al-Zarqawi survived bombing long enough to mumble final words.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Flush with intelligence, the U.S. military moved quickly Friday to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, carrying out nearly 40 raids in an effort to stop his terror network from regrouping.
A U.S. military search of the destroyed safehouse where the al-Qaida in Iraq leader was killed Wednesday yielded documents and information storage devices that are being assessed for potential use against his followers, a military officer said.
What they found
An M-16 rifle, grenades and AK-47 rifles also were found, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because results from the search have not been announced. The U.S.-made M-16 was fitted with special optics.
They also found documents and unspecified "media," which the officer indicated normally means information storage devices such as computer hard drives and digital cameras or other data storage devices.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said 39 raids were conducted across Iraq late Thursday and early Friday, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi.
Those were in addition to 17 raids carried out immediately after the terror leader was killed.
Caldwell displayed digital photographs of recovered items that he said included a suicide belt, a flak vest, passports and identification cards, vehicle license plates, ammunition belts, rifles and other guns and a night-vision device.
He said they were found under the floorboards of a building; he did not identify the location, except to say it was in and around Baghdad.
He said at least 24 people had been detained and one person killed in the raids.
AP Television News video footage showed a destroyed house, while another house had bullet holes on the wall and burned furniture inside.
al-Zarqawi bombs
The military also revealed that al-Zarqawi was alive after two 500-pound bombs were dropped on his hide-out, though he could barely speak.
"He mumbled something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," Caldwell said, adding that al-Zarqawi tried to get away after being placed on a stretcher by Iraqi police.
Caldwell said it was possible that al-Zarqawi was not inside the safehouse when it was attacked, a scenario which might explain why only he among six people killed in the raid initially survived the bombing.
Asked whether al-Zarqawi was shot after U.S. ground troops arrived at the scene, Caldwell said he could not give a definitive answer.
Biological samples from al-Zarqawi's body were delivered to an FBI crime laboratory in Virginia for DNA testing.
The results were expected in three days.
President Bush said al-Zarqawi's death "helps a lot" with security problems but won't bring an end to the war.
He also said it was unclear when Iraqi security forces could take control and let U.S. troops go home.
A roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul, killing one person and wounding two, and three oil refinery workers were shot to death near Tikrit. Eight bullet-riddled bodies were found floating near Kut, and a firefight west of Baqouba killed five civilians and wounded three.