Some early comments on Zarqawi’s death

(AP)

8 June 2006


BAGHDAD - Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been “terminated”, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday. Here are some early comments:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki:

“Today Zarqawi has been terminated.”

“Every time a Zarqawi appears we will kill him.”

“We will continue confronting whoever follows his path. It is an open war between us.”

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad:

Zarqawi’s death marks a “great success”, he said, but cautioned that it will not end violence in the country.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

“Today’s announcement was very good news because a blow against Al Qaeda in Iraq was a blow against Al Qaeda everywhere,” Blair’s office said in a statement.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih:

“This is a very important victory for the people of Iraq. He was the evil of terrorism. He was responsible for the deaths of many people in Iraq. Having him killed is a very important achievement for us. We are strongly determined to root out the remaining Al Qaeda people. This is a serious blow to terrorism. We hope that terrorism in Iraq will be over,” Salih toldReutersat a conference in Istanbul.

London-Based Islamist expert Yasser Al-Sirry:

“Zarqawi’s death, if confirmed, will have little effect on the jihad in Iraq.”

“He made clear several times that he is the leader of one faction that is fighting under the Mujahideen Council umbrella. I expect no let up in the jihad, maybe even an escalation as his followers wage retribution killings.”

Sirry said he would only be sure of Zarqawi’s death when Al Qaeda announced it: “They will not shy from announcing it, after all, he is a martyr.”

Rohan Gunaratna, Institute Of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore:

“If that information is true, it is the most significant victory in the fight against terrorism. He was certainly the most active terrorist in Iraq. More than that, he was using Iraq to mount operations in the neighbourhood, for instance the Jordan attacks (last year) were by his group...

“He had an extensive network overseas, in Europe and in the Middle East, and he was expanding this network...

“Zarqawi didn’t have a number two. I can’t think of any single person who would succeed Zarqawi...In terms of effectiveness, there was no single leader in Iraq who could match his ruthlessness and his determination. It will be very difficult to replace a man of the stature of Zarqawi.”

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former British special representative in Iraq, talking to the BBC:

“I think he’s been an icon for terrorism, for the jihadists in Iraq, because he was there before the invasion of Iraq. He was organising things immediately after the collapse of the Saddam regime. I think he’s been extremely important in creating such a nasty, effective terrorist threat and he will not be quickly replaceable, in that sense, as an icon. But there are plenty of others to fill the gap in due course. His reach did extend beyond Iraq ... he has been a very extraordinary and I think influential figure. So, that is lost to that nasty group and we must celebrate that.”

Mustafa Alani, Gulf Research Centre in Dubai:

“Zarqawi’s a central figure but I believe that the organisation will survive,” he told Reuters. “His death will have some impact on the security situation but it won’t be enough, let’s not exaggerate the impact.”

“There are hundreds and hundreds of Arab fighters in Iraq and they know they will be killed or captured one day, and they have alternate leaders.”

On oil sector security:

“This is the strategy of an organisation, not a man. I don’t really see that much of an impact.”

Diaa Rashwan, Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies:

“The Americans exaggerated from the start the size of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and there will be exaggerations about the effect of his death as there were extreme exaggerations at the time of the arrest of Saddam Hussein...

”Al-Zarqawi in recent times did not represent an important element in violent operations on the ground in Iraq. Other groups, which are not extreme, resistance groups not terrorist groups, have grown in strength. Out of the violence of the insurgency Zarqawi’s group represented only five to seven percent.”

Montasser Al-Zayyat, Lawyer - close contacts with Egypt’s militant Islamists:

“Zarkawi was a symbol ... and was the head of an army... If Zarkawi has fallen, there are others to take his place and take responsibility.”