BREAKING NEWS :: Al Zarqawi Announced Dead! Again?

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Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is seen in these undated photos - the photo at left released in Amman, Jordan, Dec. 14, 2002, the photo at right released by the Department of State September 2004. AP Photo/File

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) 5 minutes ago — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was expected to make an important announcement at a news conference in Baghdad on Thursday amid a report that al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been killed.

Al-Maliki adviser Adnan al-Kazimi told The Associated Press there was a report that al-Zarqawi may have been killed late Wednesday in Baghdad. He said he could not confirm the report.

He said al-Maliki was scheduled to shortly give a news conference along with the top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. George Casey.

Iraqi leader: Al-Zarqawi Is Eliminated

BAGHDAD (Al Jazeera) Thursday 08 June 2006, 11:23 Makka Time, 8:23 GMT
The Iraqi prime minister has announced the killing of al-Qaeda chief in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Nuri al-Maliki announced the killing of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of an organisation known as al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, at a news conference in Baghdad broadcast live by Iraqi state and international media organisations.

He said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides on Wednesday evening in a house 50km northeast of Baghdad, in the province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital, Baquba.

“Today, al-Zarqawi was eliminated,” al-Maliki told a news conference, drawing applause from reporters in the hall where he made the announcement, flanked by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, and US General George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq.

He said the air strike was the result of intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by residents in the area, and US forces acted on the information.

“Those who disrupt the course of life, like al-Zarqawi, will have a tragic end,” he said.

General Casey: “Zarqawi positively identified through finger printing, facial recognition and known scars.”

June 7, 2006: Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda’s efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another “martyr.”