Yes, it does seem like the smart thing to do vis a vis Zarqawi would have been for al Qaida and/or Iran to take him out themselves rather than giving up his location to Hamas, Jordan, and the U.S., and thus they could have sanitized the death and guarded the intel from capture.
BUT, it may be that the people al Qaida and.or Iran entrusted with taking him out quietly and cleanly may have decided on their own to turn in Zarqawi for the reward money.
Didn't we just see Palestinian government workers rioting about not being paid?
Maybe Hamas doesn't give 2 cents about the safety of al Qaida and insurgents in Iraq when they are losing their credibility with the Palestinians.
Maybe Iran wanted to take out the Zarqawi's network in Iraq so their 40,000 agents wouldn't continue to be dragged down while the new government and the U.S. coalition continued to hunt for him.
It's all very interesting speculation.
FYI ping.
Speculation and as yet unproved intel, but very interesting. Also it fits with some other reports I have seen.