Annan dubs Zarqawi 'dangerous and heinous'

United Nations, June 9 : UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the reported death of the Jordanian insurgent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq was a ''relief'', even though violence was unlikely to end with his elimination in the war-torn country.

''This man is responsible for many heinous crimes and has caused lots of problems in Iraq for the government as well as people, who are afraid to step out and are only demanding peace, stability,'' Mr Annan told reporters here yesterday.

He said ''I think they all will be relieved that he is gone. And of course, we cannot pretend that his death will mean the end of violence. But it is a relief that such a dangerous man, who has caused so much harm to the Iraqis, is no longer around to continue his work.'' Asked whether he thought Zarqawi might stray somewhat dangerously close to the line drawn by the Geneva Convention against targeted asassinations, he replied that Iraq was a war zone.

''And there are lots of groups fighting with each other.

There are lots of militias, Armies and others fighting with each other. And with Zarqawi, if it is him indeed who has been killed, has been at war. He's been in a fight. So I don't think you can equate it to targeted assassination of the kind that we have seen elsewhere,'' Mr Annan pointed out.

UNI

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