Castro calls killing of al-Zarqawi ‘barbarity’

updated 1:05 a.m. ET June 11, 2006

HAVANA - President Fidel Castro called the U.S. airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a “barbarity,” saying he should have been put on trial.

The United States acted as “judge and jury” against the leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq, Castro said late Friday.

“They bragged, they were practically drunk with happiness.”

“The accused cannot just be eliminated,” he told a literacy conference. “This barbarity cannot be done.”

The U.S. military has said al-Zarqawi initially survived the dropping of two 500-pound bombs on his hide-out Wednesday, but died a short time later.

Newsweek: How U.S. found al-Zarqawi Items seized from al-Zarqawi hideout Al-Zarqawi tried to flee in last moments From street thug to terror leader   Images: The life of terror leader Cagle's cartoons: Death of Zarqawi! Victim's brother: 'May he rot in hell' Relatives hail 'martyr' for Islam Al-Masri ‘most logical’ successor NBC: Master of the Web war Timeline: Rise and fall of terror chief Vote: Impact of mastermind's death? MORE ON THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ

Castro said if Cuba used the same logic, it could bomb the United States to kill its No. 1 enemy, Luis Posada Carriles, who is being held in El Paso, Texas on immigration charges.

The communist government accuses the Cuban-born Posada of masterminding numerous violent attacks against the island, including the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people in 1976. Posada denies involvement in the bombing of the plane.

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