Freedom Folks: Most-wanted Iraq terrorist al-Zarqawi dead

Source: yahoonews

Huzzah!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose bloody campaign of beheadings and suicide bombings made him the most-wanted terrorist in
Iraq, was killed when U.S. warplanes dropped 500-pound bombs on his isolated safe house, officials said Thursday. His death was a long-sought victory in the war in Iraq.

The targeted air strike Wednesday evening was the culmination of a two-week-long hunt for al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Tips from senior militants within the network led U.S. forces to follow al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser to the safe house, 30 miles outside Baghdad, for a meeting with the terror leader. The adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, was among seven aides also killed.

Fingerprints, tattoos and scars helped U.S. troops identify al-Zarqawi's body, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. The U.S. military showed a picture of al-Zarqawi's face after the air strike, with his eyes closed and spots of blood behind him.

"Al-Zarqawi was eliminated," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said.

President Bush hailed the killing as "a severe blow to al-Qaida and it is a significant victory in the war on terror."

But he cautioned: "We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continuing patience of the American people."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said al-Zarqawi's death "will not mean the end of all violence in that country."

He added that it was apt that al-Zarqawi — who had tried to thwart Iraqi elections and formation of a new government — died on the day the new government in Baghdad finalized its cabinet.