It has just been reported that Al Qaida militant Abu Musab Al Zarqawi has been killed in a US air strike on his safe house in Iraq.
Iraq's prime misiter announced today that Al Zarqawi, who has been linked to suicide bombings, kidnapping & hostage beheading in Iraq has been killed in a US air raid north of Baghdad.
Al Zarqawi has also been responsible for the Amman explosions last November.
News agencies around the world are waiting for more details about the US raid & also for pictures that will be releases later in the day.
No offence to anyone....but i think it is good that he has been finally killed...maybe a journey to peace will now begin in Iraq where the people will come together in unity and the middle east will become a whole again..INSHALLAH YARAB
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's top terror leader, has been killed in a US air raid north of Baghdad, Iraq's new prime minister and a top American general say.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides at around sunset in a house 50km north-east of Baghdad, in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baquba.
"Al-Zarqawi was terminated," al-Maliki told a news conference, drawing loud applause from reporters in the hall where he made the announcement, flanked by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and US General George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq.
Casey said Zarqawi's body had been identified and warned that Zarqawi's followers still posed a security threat to Iraq.
Al-Maliki said the air strike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and US forces acted on the information.
"Those who disrupt the course of life, like al-Zarqawi, will have a tragic end," he said.
Khalilzad added: "the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a huge success for Iraq and the international war on terror."
Believed to be in his late 30s, Zarqawi had been a mysterious figure for Iraqis, who only know the carnage of his bombers.
His killing could be seen as one of the most significant developments for the United States forces and the Iraqi government it backs since the capture of former President Saddam Hussein.
The Jordanian-born militant, who is believed to have personally beheaded at least two American hostages, became Iraq's most wanted militant.
He was as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004.
The United States put a $US25 million ($A34 million) bounty on Zarqawi, the same as bin Laden.
American ABC TV reported that "Zarqawi was apparently injured at first ... The Americans found him. They handed him over to the Iraqis and he later died of his injuries".
ABC said seven people were hit in the helicopter attack, including two women, but it was not clear how many were killed or wounded.
In the past year, Zarqawi moved his campaign beyond Iraq's borders, claiming to have carried out a November 9, 2005, triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman that killed 60 people.
He also claimed responsibility for other attacks in Jordan and even a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel.
US forces and their allies came close to capturing Zarqawi several times since his campaign began in mid-2003.
His closest brush may have come in late 2004.
Deputy Interior Ministry Major General Hussein Kamal said Iraqi security forces caught Zarqawi at that time near the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah but then released him because they didn't realise who he was.
In May 2005, web statements by his group said Zarqawi had been wounded in fighting with Americans and was being treated in a hospital abroad - raising speculation over a successor among his lieutenants.
But days later, a statement said Zarqawi was fine and had returned to Iraq. There was never any independent confirmation of the reports of his wounding.
US forces believe they just missed capturing Zarqawi in a February 20, 2005, raid in which troops closed in on his vehicle west of Baghdad near the Euphrates River.
His driver and another associate were captured and Zarqawi's computer was seized along with pistols and ammunition.
US troops twice launched massive invasions of Fallujah, the stronghold used by al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters and other insurgents west of Baghdad.
An April 2004 offensive left the city still in insurgent hands, but the October 2004 assault wrested it from them. However, Zarqawi - if he was in the city - escaped.
Casey said the hunt for Zarqawi began in the air-strike area two weeks ago.
He said Zarqawi's body had been identified by fingerprints and facial recognition.
THIS IS JUST MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU GUYS....
Too bad that many like Zarqawi will surface sooner or later. The pathetic thing is that they claim they are acting in the name of religion. Those small human beings do not realise they are playing into the big hands very well. Yalla may be some mothers' hearts would cool down a little bit now. Like the mothers of those poor students on the way to their exams, alla yerhamoun. Unity in the middle east is hard to achieve, religion plays a big role in the division, not talking about christains and muslims, but about Shias and sunnis. People like the Zarqawi know how to use this card very well.
Rachel its not offensive in the least. He killed ppl and butchered them like animals. This is a day everyone has been waiting for. Inshalla Iraq will after this rise again and gain everything it has lost this war and the wars previous to it. Ila jahanam wa bi2sal ma9eer.
Furthermore, I hope that his killing will lead to a more secure Iraq with less bombings and decapitations. However there are still fears that his supporters, most noteably Osama, will send someone else to Iraq, God forbid. Ya rab we'll see a new and improved Iraq soon and I hope never serious happens from now on. What the iraqi ppl have seen and gone through is not like what any ppl have experienced. Inshalla gradually from this day peace, stability, and secuirty will be restored and ppl will live one day without having to worry about nearby explosions. I also hope that the Baath party in Iraq will be eradicated completely ya rab. allah yil3an kul man yisabibi ilirhab.... ;)
I'm very happy that Zarkawi the bloody demon finally got what he deserved for slaying and decapitating innocents in Iraq. There has been lots of blood shedding after the era of Saddam's brutal regime and now the free Iraqis can rebuild their country again without any fear when they leave their homes. Bin Laden must be weeping over the demise of his follower where I hope he'll be captured very soon and rot together in hell for their horrible crimes.
agree with u guys and all what u said was true and ofcourse hes going straight down 2 hell him and his followers who killed lots of ppl and madelots suffer.but i wanted 2 add one thing that not only the americans who killed him it was the iraqi police too and they were the ppl who went and found him in the house in the deserted area.finally we hear some good news.
but that doesnt mean that everything is over ther r other terrorists also.but hope it becomes less and better.
haha they said that his brother went 2 the hospital after he heard the news.
tell u something guys, zarqawi may have been a terrorist and a murder, but i can assure u hes simply the product of americas disgusting butchering of our ppl and raping of our land. belive it or not, he was trying to protect his land. true, he did it in a wrong and unacceptable way, but none of this would ever had happened if it wasnt for the us sticking its abnormaly large nose into every f**king thing that happens. wer not children for it to be r mother. america is no better that he is, and if we want progress and peace for our countries we need to take action now, be4 more ppl like him show up.
Yes and now all of a sudden the war in Iraq will be about Zarqawi...whoopie-do. Too bad that hundreds of Iraqis are dying daily under US fire. And now we'll be too busy praising the works of Bush & his puppet Iraqi govt! We still don't even know the reason for their presence in Iraq! I don't think we know enough about Zarqawi...we only know what the press tells us and the press is always out to benefit Washington & scandal the underdog. Anyway no one knows if it is indeed Zarqawi- I don't support the man but I'd prefer that he remain alive as long as the Americans remain in Iraq. I don't see fit to congratulate his apparent death whilst Iraqis, Afghanis & Palestinians are being put into early graves left right and centre. Furthermore, you are all referring to Iraq under the Terrorism pretext...the war on Iraq was never about Terrorism and has never been the reason or been mentioned as a reason by Bush or Blair. The Iraqi war was supposed to be about weapons of mass destruction (petrol for the ones who never fell for it). It was the Afghani war that was supposedly about terrorism.
Natalie, you're right, the US intervenes in everything in the ME and around the world. I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind the attacks happening. The US are indirectly controlling Iraq and are trying to get advantages especially economic ones..big example OIL. I only hope Iraq will not fall prey to their game and they never will. Allah yihfuth-ha.... ;)
thank God and thanks to our solders who fight everyday there to protect us. thank God that they got him finally.
well im glad that gruesome murderer, that hating viscious devil killed so many innocent souls, illa jahanam...
but im only scared that someone will take over this pathetic, evil and barbaric job..
allah yisa3id il 3iraqeen goolo ameen
God will give him what he deserves, I'm not one to judge of course, but.... I know one of the people killed in the Amman bombings, and my aunt and her family lived very nearby to one of the hotels, so i'm sure you can guess my feelings towards that disgusting excuse for a human being.
*Those who live by the sword, die by the sword!*
wow good newz i never knew des b4 , he deserve it.
hopfully da next one is benladin.
tatyana
TO THE DEEPEST HOTTEST PITS OF HELLLLLLL INSHALLAH!! AND ANYONE WHO HAS MERCY ON THIS IDIOT DESERVES TO JOIN HIM!
Thank god that devil is gone,he deserves this.I hope the rest of them are catched but Zarqawi is still ONE leader there are millions like them all brain washed to believes its in the name of Islam,extremists like them are going to hell.
God bless us from the terrorism
first of all i cant judge him now because he is dead and he will get what he deserves. but i honestly dont think he died in that air strike. i mean come on guys. his face looks good for someone who has been blown up. the media said that they were still picking up body parts of those 8 who got killed with him, its a set up ya'll. he was captured and tortured for info before he got killed and the airstrike was a cover up. this is just my opinion i dont believe people look like that after a missle been down u.
Yo wiseass ,Zarqawi wasnt "BLOWN UP" he was killed, he might have been killed with a gun you dont know anything so dont go assuming anything.
I hate when people assume whatever they want,because honestly we all talk BULL ,especially those stupid theories made up
Did you see the rubble of the house Zarqawi was in that was bombed?? Hit by TWO 500 pound bombs?? and they mean that we should believe a human body could stay whole in that rubble??? Something doesn't add up.
All of politics doesn't serv people's hearts. The U.S. and the ME rulers are the different side of one coin. We should all get rulers who represetn what is the people's interest and hearts.
alzargawi is jordanis not iraqi!!!!!!
bye bye zargawi have fun in hell!
God bless all the iraqis he killed!