Zarqawi's death could 'turn the tide' in Iraq, says Bush

Washington, Jun 8 (UNI) US President Bush today said justice has been delivered to the Iraq's most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in an air strike north of Baghdad.

In a statement from the White House Mr Bush said Zarqawi will never murder again, and that his death is a severe blow to al-Qaeda.

The US President said Zarqawi personally led a campaign of beheadings, killings and suicide attacks.

''Zarqawi was the operational commander of the terrorist movement in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, assassinations and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces and thousands of innocent Iraqis,'' the statement said.

''Osama bin Laden called this Jordanian terrorist 'the prince of al-Qaeda in Iraq.' He called on the terrorists around the world to listen to him and obey him. Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq. He masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. He was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan, and the bombing of a hotel in Amman,'' the statement added.

''Through his every action, he sought to defeat America and our coalition partners, and turn Iraq into a safe haven from which al-Qaeda could wage its war on free nations. To achieve these ends, he worked to divide Iraqis and incite civil war. And only last week he released an audio tape attacking Iraq's elected leaders, and denouncing those advocating the end of sectarianism,'' Mr Bush further said.

''Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again. Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early steps to improve their security. And Americans can be enormously proud of the men and women of our armed forces, who worked tirelessly with their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and put him out of business.'' Mr Bush however warned that the terrorists will try to continue without Zarqawi, and vowed that the US mission in Iraq will continue. ''Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him. We can expect the sectarian violence to continue. Yet the ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders.'' he said adding, ''Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al-Qaeda. It's a victory in the global war on terror.'' Meanwhile Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, ''Al-Zarqawi's death is a significant victory in the battle against terrorism.'' According to a US military statement the terrorist leader and one of his key lieutenants, spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were killed in an airstrike carried out by the US military.

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