US military doctors have completed an autopsy on the body of slain Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a military spokesman has said.

A reproduction of an image made avilable by the US Army during a US military briefing in Baghdad of slain Al-Qaeda chief in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on June 8. The US military was conducting an autopsy on slain Zarqawi as search operations continued in a bid to track down followers of the former Al-Qaeda in Iraq chief.[AFP]

"We do know that the autopsy has been done and we are now awaiting the findings," Major William Wilhoite told AFP.

The autopsy got underway on Saturday afternoon conducted by two US military doctors flown in from outside Iraq.

On Saturday, coalition forces spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the autopsy was being done to see "how he actually died."

The move followed repeated queries about the conditions of Zarqawi's death, especially after it was revealed he was alive when Iraqi and coalition forces appeared at the scene of the air strike that eventually killed him.

On Wednesday, an F-16 launched two 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs, one laser-guided and one GPS-guided, at Zarqawi's safe house northeast of Baghdad.

Caldwell, however, clarified that there were no gunshot wounds on Zarqawi's body.

His body is being kept in Baghdad under a 24-hour guard.

The US military was also awaiting the results on DNA tests on Zarqawi.

After the strike Zarqawi was identified through facial recognition, known scars on his body and fingerprints, and samples of his DNA were flown to Washington for further analysis.