Al Zarqawi, 7 lieutenants, killed by U.S. air strike
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, June 8, 2006
BAGHDAD — Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi has been
killed.
Iraqi officials said Al Zarqawi, responsible for the death of thousands
of people in such countries as Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, was killed in a U.S.
air strike near Baqouba north of Baghdad on Wednesday. They said the Al
Qaida network chief had been tracked by Iraqi and U.S. military units for
nearly a year, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Today Zarqawi was defeated," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki told
a news conference on Thursday. "This is a message to all those who use
violence killing and devastation to disrupt life in Iraq to rethink within
themselves before it is too late."
Al Zarqawi, regarded as the most active commander in Al Qaida, was said
to have been killed with seven of his lieutenants, officials said. They said
Al Zarqawi, identified by facial recognition, was killed in Hib, a village
about eight kilometers north of Baqubah. Hours after his death was
announced, a major suicide strike took place in Baghdad.
"Zarqawi was the godfather of sectarian killing and terrorism in Iraq,"
U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said. "His organization has been
responsible for the death of thousands of civilians in Iraq and abroad."
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