IRAQ Recent developments

The latest developments in Iraq:
A medic spent about 20 minutes trying to save Abu Musab al-Zarqawi even as blood ran from the terror leader's mouth after the airstrike that mortally wounded him, the U.S. military said Monday. But the man responsible for the deaths of thousands was not wearing the suicide belt he vowed to use if American soldiers ever caught him. Seeking to dispel allegations that al-Zarqawi was beaten or shot while in U.S. custody, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said an autopsy performed Saturday proved the Jordanian-born militant died of "massive internal injuries" that were consistent with a blast caused by the two 500-pound bombs dropped on his hideout. "A coalition medic treated Zarqawi while he did lapse in and out of consciousness," Caldwell said at a news conference in Baghdad. The cause of death was listed as "primary blast injury of the lung," with blast waves from the two bombs causing bruising and bleeding of the organs. The al-Qaida in Iraq leader suffered multiple bruises, scratches and deep head wounds, and Jones found no evidence he had been beaten or shot. X-rays also showed a fracture of his right lower leg.
Al-Qaida in Iraq named a successor Monday to al-Zarqawi and said he would stick to the slain leader's path -- attacks on Shiites as well as on U.S. and Iraqi forces. The new leader, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer in a statement posted on the Web, appeared to be a foreign Arab, like his predecessor. But otherwise he is an unknown. The name has not appeared in previous al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda or on U.S. lists of terrorists with rewards on their heads, suggesting he is a lower-level figure or someone more prominent who has taken a new pseudonym.
U.S. troops killed seven insurgents and captured three others in a Monday raid that also left two children dead not far from the safehouse where al-Zarqawi died. The military said the insurgents belonged to a terrorist cell with ties to senior al-Qaida leaders involved in helping foreign fighters come to Iraq.
Source: Associated Press