WORLD / Middle East
US shows photos of battered al-Zarqawi
(AP/Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-09 09:24
A picture of the dead al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is
displayed by the U.S. military during a news conference at the fortified
Green Zone in Baghdad June 8, 2006. [Reuters]
The US military displayed images of the battered face of Iraq's most
feared terrorist Thursday and Iraqis celebrated with gunfire after
American bombs killed the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.
It was a long-sought victory for US forces, but officials cautioned of
violence ahead - and a string of blasts proved that prediction almost
immediately.
Within minutes of the announcement of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki named three key security ministers - military
and political breakthroughs in rapid succession that marked the biggest
potential turnaround in Iraq in months.
The two events may give the United States and its Iraqi allies another
brief chance to build momentum toward stability and away from violence.
With al-Zarqawi out of the way and the new government in place, some
Sunni Arab leaders may be emboldened to resume a dialogue they started
last fall - exchanges sunk by al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq.
If another effort is made, much will depend on the Iraqi government's
ability to live up to its promises to build a political system that
includes all groups, including disaffected Sunnis. More than a dozen
Sunni Arab insurgent groups are believed to be operating in Iraq, and a
few use tactics just as ruthless as al-Zarqawi's.
"This popular front and national unity is our guarantee to fighting all
challenges," al-Maliki told a Baghdad news conference. But, he warned,
"whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him."
President Bush and US military leaders cautioned that the death of the
39-year-old militant was not likely to end the bloodshed - just as the
capture of Saddam Hussein and the killings of his two sons failed to
dampen the insurgency. A rash of bombings that killed nearly 40 people in
Baghdad on Thursday confirmed that assessment.
"We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continuing
patience of the American people," Bush said.
Nevertheless, the president called the killing "a severe blow to
al-Qaida, and it is a significant victory in the war on terror."
Tips from within al-Zarqawi's own terror network helped the US locate and
bomb a safe house where the al-Qaida leader was meeting in secret with
top associates, American military officials said. Al-Maliki told
al-Arabiya television the US$25 million bounty the US put on al-Zarqawi's
head would be honored, saying "we will meet our promise."
Al-Zarqawi was killed at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday after an intense two-week
hunt that US officials said first led to the terror leader's spiritual
adviser and then to him.
Loud applause broke out as al-Maliki, flanked by US Ambassador Zalmay
Khalilzad and US Gen. George Casey, announced at the news conference that
"al-Zarqawi was eliminated."
Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, said the American airstrike targeted
"an identified, isolated safe house." Four other people, including a
woman and a child, were killed with al-Zarqawi and Abu Abdul-Rahman
al-Iraqi, the terrorist's spiritual consultant.
Al-Qaida confirmed al-Zarqawi's death in a statement and vowed to
continue its "holy war." Curiously, the announcement was signed by
al-Iraqi, who was identified as deputy "emir" of the group, perhaps in an
attempt to spread confusion.
Fingerprints, tattoos and scars helped US troops identify al-Zarqawi's
body, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. The military released
pictures of al-Zarqawi's face after the airstrike, with his eyes closed
and spots of blood, images reminiscent of photos of Saddam's dead sons.
Spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell also showed a videotape of the air
assault taken by one of the F-16 fighter jets that dropped the two
500-pound bombs, obliterating the terrorist leader's safe house five
miles west of Baqouba.
"We had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house,"
Caldwell said.
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