A resident prepares to fire his weapon in the air as he rejoices after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed, in Baghdad's Sadr city, June 8, 2006. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem
Posted on 06/09/2006 9:22:36 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The killing of Abu Musab al- Zarqawi is a "new beginning" for Iraq, the interior minister said on Friday, as authorities enforced a traffic ban in an apparent effort to prevent al Qaeda reprisal attacks.
The Interior Ministry said the ban in Baghdad and in the volatile town of Baquba, near where U.S. warplanes killed Zarqawi on Wednesday, would be in effect from 11 a.m. (0700 GMT) until 3 p.m., when most Iraqis go to mosques for Friday prayers.
Suicide car bombers sent by Zarqawi have targeted Shi'ite mosques in the past as part of a campaign to plunge Iraq into sectarian civil war and the traffic ban, although not uncommon on Fridays, may indicate that authorities are fearing attacks.
In a strike that President George W. Bush said could help to turn the tide against the insurgency, two U.S. 500-pound (227 kg) bombs killed Zarqawi in a rural area near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.
Highlighting the boost of confidence among American and Iraqi officials prompted by Zarqawi's death, Interior Minister Jawad al- Bolani told Iraqiya state television:
"Killing Zarqawi is a new beginning for Iraqi security and establishing peace between the different components of society."
But U.S. officials, struggling to defeat an insurgency that has sowed mayhem in Iraq with car bombs, beheadings and kidnappings more than three years after the U.S. invasion, have warned against expectations of an quick end to violence.
Hours after U.S. and Iraqi officials announced the death of America's most wanted man in Iraq, a string of bombs in Baghdad on Thursday killed at least 31 people and wounded scores, including a roadside bomb that killed 13 in a crowded market.
While warning of "tough days ahead," Bush said the air strike "delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq."
In one of the most significant developments in Iraq since the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Jordanian-born Zarqawi was killed on Wednesday in a joint U-S.-Iraqi operation helped by tip-offs from Iraqis and Jordanian intelligence.
BREAKTHROUGH
The news coincided with a political breakthrough as parliament approved Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's candidates to become the new defense and interior ministers after long and intense wrangling among his coalition government partners.
Vowing to fight on, al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed the death of Zarqawi, who beheaded several hostages himself. The Sunni Arab, who had a $25 million bounty on his head, had declared war on Iraq's majority Shi'ites, threatening a full sectarian conflict.
The U.S. military released pictures of the corpse of the bearded Zarqawi with facial abrasions and eyes closed. The air strike was carried out by two F-16 warplanes, one of which dropped two guided bombs onto Zarqawi's "safe house."
Osama bin Laden called Zarqawi, who was in his late 30s, the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq, and he had symbolized the radical Islamist insurgency against U.S. occupation.
U.S. special forces were involved in trailing Sheikh Abdul-Rahman, Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, to uncover Zarqawi's presence in a small house in a palm grove. Abdul-Rahman was also killed in the air strike.
"(Zarqawi's death provides) an opportunity for Iraq's new government to turn the tide in this struggle," Bush told a news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House.
"We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people," said a sombre- looking Bush, battling low poll ratings, partly over Iraq.
Followers of Zarqawi pledged to carry on their fight.
"The death of our leaders ... only makes us more determined to continue the jihad," said an Islamist Web site statement.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters 10 people, including Zarqawi, had been killed in the strike. Earlier, officials said six people including a woman and a child had been killed.
Zarqawi was identified by his fingerprints and tattoos.
U.S. Major General William Caldwell said an Egyptian militant trained in Afghanistan called Abu al-Masari, who established the first al Qaeda cell in Baghdad, may succeed Zarqawi as head of the group in Iraq.
Caldwell told reporters the operation to track down Zarqawi had taken many weeks. "It truly was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human sources, electronics, signal intelligence," he said.
A resident prepares to fire his weapon in the air as he rejoices after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed, in Baghdad's Sadr city, June 8, 2006. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem
An Iraqi soldier flashes a victory sign as he celebrates the death of Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Kerbala, June 8, 2006. (Mushtaq Mohammed/Reuters)
Hopefully it will give the Iraqi people confidence that we are there for the long haul...and thus they can take the chance to work with us on rooting out the rest of the garbage.
I like it! I love it!! I want somemore of it!!!
Reveler celebrates New Years Eve in Santa Ana, CA.
This is not the end of widespread terrorism in Iraq, but it's probably the beginning of the end.
They finally got it through their heads that he was the enemy... Projection: Things are 100 percent better in Iraq...
As usual, the Iraqis have more faith in the operation than our Democrats.
AFP/Qassem Zein
Thank you! I was trying to make this very point earlier today.
Yup, it ain't a party in Iraq without "happy fire."
IMHO, the death of Z...really, really, is a "HUGH" tide turner. One should not underestimate the impact this will have on morale across the country.
One man can change a nation...dead or alive.
You never hear the statistics about deaths and injuries due to 'happy fire'. It must be pretty high in the Middle East.
Got to make sure those AKs and 45s still work.
Used to blast the 30.08 into the hills ,, stopped that a long time ago tho.. lots of cows and who knows how many illegals up there . ;-)
Yep, OL' Z, He Blowed Up REAL Good...
"IMHO, the death of Z...really, really, is a "HUGH" tide turner. One should not underestimate the impact this will have on morale across the country."
Also consider the larger picture. We like to make fun of all the "senior aids" and "#2s" that this guy had. It seems like we were taking out a #2 every couple of days. Now its time for one of these guys to step up and the pool of available talent is greatly reduced.
It's certainly a nice start, but we need to follow-up and eliminate these guys while they are the most vulnerable.
The amount of information being gathered should make it a lot easier than it has been.. The number of raids will add to the trove of info already gathered of late.
U.S. troops hunt al-Qaida in raids in Iraq (56 Raids in 2 Days)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1646248/posts
The troops are very busy rounding 'em up and ferreting them out.
Party on, Dudes! Anything to make Demonicrats and terrorists even more pist-off!!!
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