killing of the leader of terror group Al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "a victory in the global war on terror" but warned of "tough days ahead in Iraq."
Bush spoke to reporters in front of the White House just hours after the Iraqi prime minister confirmed that al-Zarqawi was killed, along with seven aids, in a US-led air strike. They were killed Wednesday evening, June 7, in a remote area 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. "Al-Zarqawi was eliminated," al-Maliki added.
Bush hailed the killing and recalled that Osama bin Laden, seen as the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks against the US, described al-Zarqawi as "the prince of Al-Qaida, to whom everyone should listen." Therefore, Bush said, "his death is a severe blow" for the terror group.
But he cautioned that, "We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continuing patience of the American people."
"AL-QAIDA PRINCE"
He recalled that Osama bin Laden, seen as the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks against the United States, had described al-Zarqawi as "the prince of Al-Qaida, to whom everyone should listen."
Therefore, Bush said, "his death is a severe blow" for the terror group.
He claimed al-Zarqawi was directly involved "in the beheading of American and other citizens," the murder of a US diplomat, as well as "the killings of US forces and Iraqi citizens" by leading a campaign of "suicide attacks."
IRAQI CHRISTIANS
Christians in Iraq were suffering as well, as several churches were bombed, killing believers across the country, BosNewsLife learned. Thousands of believers fled Iraq in recent years, leaving behind an embattled community of roughly 750,000 Christians, according to church estimates.
It is not clear however if the killing of al-Zarqawi will ease Islamic attacks against Christians and reduce the number of reported kidnappings of Iraqi Christians, BosNewsLife observed. The Jordanian-born fighter also moved his campaign beyond Iraq’s borders, and carried out a November 9, 2005, triple bombing against hotels in Amman that killed 60 people, Bush added in his comments to journalists, without taking questions.
Al-Zarqawi also claimed other attacks in Jordan and even a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel, news reports said.
CONGRATULATING TROOPS
Bush said that "on behalf of the American people I congratulate our troops", who he admitted had several "near misses" in previous years as part of efforts to capture or kill al-Zarqawi, recalling several incidents.
American troops and their allies had reportedly come close to capturing al-Zarqawi several times since his terror campaign began in mid-2003. The American military believes it just missed capturing al-Zarqawi in a February 20, 2005, raid in when troops closed in on his vehicle west of Baghdad near the Euphrates river.
His driver and another associate were captured and al-Zarqawi’s computer was seized along with pistols and ammunition, news reports said.
His closest brush reportedly came in late 2004 when Major-General Hussein Kamal, the then deputy interior ministry, said Iraqi security forces caught al-Zarqawi near Falluja but then released him because they did not realize who he was. President Bush said Thursday, June 8, however that he was proud that "the coalition forces never gave up. Today their efforts were awarded."
ATTACKS EXPECTED
President Bush stressed that this is not the end of the war on terror and that more attacks are expected in Iraq. However he said it was an important message to terror groups like al-Qaida who he believes tried to make Iraq a "save haven" for their activities.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed similar views, saying it was clear that "others will try to continue" al-Zarqawi’s campaign of terror.
His death ended a violent life of a man who began as a petty criminal in his native Jordan and grew into one of the world’s most revered terror leaders. He was born in 1966 under the name Ahmed Fadhil Nazzal al-Kahlayleh in the town of Zarqa, Jordan and went to Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight against Soviet occupation forces.
ABANDONING AFGHANISTAN
After the Soviets abandoned Afghanistan, Zarqawi returned home and began leading a campaign to overthrow the Jordanian royal family. He was sentenced to a 15-year prison sentence in 1996, but released three years later under an amnesty. He returned to
Afghanistan and forged ties with al-Qaida terrorist network leader Osama bin Laden. Some time after being wounded during the US-led war that toppled the ruling Taleban in 2001, Zarqawi fled to Iraq, where he formed the insurgent group that carried out a string of suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages.
After the group merged with al Qaida, a statement by bin Laden anointed him as his deputy in Iraq in December 2004. That controversial career ended Wednesday, June 7, with a rocket. "Justice has been done," Bush said. "Zarqawi will never murder again." (With reports from Iraq, London and Washington, BosNewsLife News Center and BosNewsLife Research).
