Al-Zarqawi death ‘a blow to al-Qaeda’
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the “most vicious prosecutor” of the fight against democracy in Iraq and his death is a blow to terrorists everywhere, Tony Blair has said.
The prime minister was speaking after the Iraqi prime minister confirmed that coalition forces had killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq in an air strike yesterday evening.
“The death of al-Zarqawi was a strike against al-Qaeda in Iraq and so strikes at al-Qaeda everywhere,” Mr Blair told reporters at his monthly news conference.
However, he insisted the US, UK and Iraqi governments were “under no illusions” that the violence would end here, saying: “He was the hands-on leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, but I have no doubt also that there will be others who want to continue the killing.”
The prime minister added: “We know we have many more obstacles but they should know that our determination to defeat them is total.”
Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett also welcomed the news, but she warned it was “too early to be a turning point” in the fight against insurgents in Iraq.
She noted al-Zarqawi, a Sunni Muslim, had been particularly active in encouraging “immensely damaging” conflict between the Sunni and Shia communities, and said she hoped his removal would be “helpful” in ending sectarian violence.
The news was revealed this morning by Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in a live television address, to loud applause from attending reporters.
“This is a message to all those who are pursuing violent destruction. They should stop. They should review their situation and resort to logic before it is too late,” he said, adding: “We will continue to the end of the road and kill all the terrorists.”
The US military has also confirmed the killing, which it said happened in an air strike near the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, at about 6.15pm last night.
They said al-Zarqawi was identified from fingerprints, facial features and known scars, and added: “This is a significant blow to al-Qaida and another step towards defeating terrorism in Iraq.”
As the leader of the terrorist group in Iraq, the Jordan-born militant is believed to be responsible for many of the roadside bomb attacks on Iraqi and coalition security forces.
He is also thought to be behind the murder of British hostage Ken Bigley, and a number of other foreigners abducted in the fledgling democracy.
Also today, the Iraqi prime minister presented his candidates for the key government positions of interior, defence and security ministers to parliament for their approval. The rest of the government was approved at the end of the last month.
He has proposed Iraqi army general Abdul-Qadre Mohammed Jassim, a Sunni Arab, for the defence post, and Shiites Jawad al-Bolani for interior and Sherwan al-Waili for national security ministries.
