World leaders praise al-Zarqawi death

updated 3:59 p.m. ET June 8, 2006

LONDON - Islamic militants and world governments warned Thursday that violence would continue in Iraq and around the globe despite the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said al-Zarqawi’s death was a victory.

“The death of al-Zarqawi is a strike against al-Qaida in Iraq and, therefore, a strike against al-Qaida everywhere but we should have no illusions,” Blair said at his monthly news conference. “We know that they will continue to kill, we know that there are many, many obstacles to overcome.”

Britain, America’s main coalition partner, has about 8,000 troops in southern Iraq.

President Bush said the killing of al-Zarqawi was “an opportunity for Iraq’s new government to turn the tide of this struggle,” but he said more terrorist and insurgent violence is to be expected.

“We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people,” he said.

A former close aide to Osama bin Laden said Thursday that al-Zarqawi’s death would spark retaliatory attacks across Iraq.

Reprisal attacks expected
“Al-Zarqawi’s martyrdom is not going to weaken the jihad in Iraq,” Khalid Khawaja, a former Pakistani intelligence officer who helped bin Laden fight Soviet forces in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press.

“Rather, you will soon see more retaliatory attacks by his successors.”

Italian defense minister Arturo Parisi expressed “satisfaction for the action of the coalition, which certainly contributes in a very significant way to the fight against international terrorism.”

Italy’s 2,600 troops are expected to be withdrawn by year’s end.

MORE ON AL-ZARQAWI Al-Qaida in Iraq’s al-Zarqawi killed Bush: Al-Zarqawi death a ‘severe blow’ Victim’s brother: ‘Rot in hell’ Relatives say al-Zarqawi was a martyr Blog: Joy in the Green Zone Myth bigger than the man? Newsweek: Impact of death unclear

Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said killing al-Zarqawi will “move the dynamics of the situation in Iraq in a good direction,” the PAP news agency reported.

“The less terrorists there are, especially at the highest level, the calmer the situation in Iraq will be,” he said.

Poland has some 900 troops in south-central Iraq, where it commands a multinational force.

The father of a U.S. contractor believed slain by al-Zarqawi said he did not see any good coming from the terror leader’s death.

Personally beheaded victims
Michael Berg, whose 26-year-old son, Nicholas, was taken hostage and beheaded on videotape in 2004, said al-Zarqawi’s death leaves the terror leader’s family in grief and likely will spark fresh violence.

“I see more death coming out of al-Zarqawi’s death,” said Berg, a pacifist running for Delaware’s lone U.S. House seat on the Green Party ticket.

Al-Zarqawi also is believed to have beheaded Eugene Armstrong, a 52-year-old contractor formerly from Hillsdale, Mich.

“An evil man is dead, and what more can you say?” said family spokeswoman Cyndi Armstrong, the wife of the slain man’s cousin.

Paul Bigley — the brother of Briton Kenneth Bigley, who was kidnapped Sept. 16, 2004, and beheaded — said he believed al-Zarqawi was behind his brother’s death.

“My initial thoughts are that the world has rid itself of a very evil person — if a person at all. He’s a specimen, that’s what he is,” Bigley told the AP. “I hope they catch the others ASAP.”

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