“Al-Zarqawi has been eliminated,” announced Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at a Thursday press conference together with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq, U.S. General George Casey. The announcement was greeted with a loud round of applause.
Maliki told reporters that the top terrorist in his country and seven of his followers were killed in a house destroyed by F-16 fighter jets in an American air strike some 50 kilometers (36 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Two 500-pound bombs were dropped on the house in which al-Zarqawi and his aides were found. Intelligence reports from residents in the area were passed on to Iraqi security forces that collaborated with U.S. troops in the strike.
An Early Start on the Road to Terror
Zarqawi began his road to terrorism early in life, starting in his youth as a juvenile delinquent with poor grades and little interest in academic study.
He was born in 1966 in the Jordanian town of Zarqa, a town north of Amman, to the Bani Hassan tribe, known for its loyalty to the Hashemite family. According to a biography by Dr. Loretta Napoleoni of the Dayan Center, Zarqawi – born Ahmad Fadheel Nazaal al-Khalaylah – spent most of his childhood playtime in the cemetery across from his home. He was held back in school, was known as a rebel and ended up in jail while still in his teens.
Al-Zarqawi was captivated by the stories he heard about Afghan Arabs in the local mosque after he was released from his first jail term, and headed for Afghanistan in 1989, reaching the city of Khost toward the end of the war. He soon moved to Peshawar, where he became a Moslem fundamentalist, and then moved again, this time to the Sada terror camp where he honed his operational skills and deepened his commitment to Moslem extremist ideology.
A Terrorist in his Homeland
In 1993 al-Zarqawi returned to his homeland, where he joined the Islamist resistance against the late King Hussein and the budding peace process with Israel. Within a year he was arrested and by 1995 he was back in jail together with his mentor and leader of the Islamist resistance movement, Abu Muhammed al-Maqdisi, a Jordanian terrorist leader he met in Peshawar.
It was during that second prison term that al-Zarqawi began training to become an Islamist terror machine, working out physically and studying classic Moslem literature, including the Koran. The training program paid off; he became the leader of the prisoners who shared al-Maqdisi’s theology. The absolute unity of Allah was mirrored in this ideology and echoed in the unity of a Sharia-based (religious law) society. Non-observers were considered infidels. Infidels were sentenced to death.
While serving a 15-year prison term, Al-Zarqawi and al-Maqdisi were released in 1999 by newly-crowned King Abdullah II, son of the late King Hussein and Jordan’s current ruler. Later that same year, al-Zarqawi once again set out for Afghanistan. He was delayed in Pakistan, however, when his passport was confiscated.
Still a Loner, Says ‘No’ to Osama bin Laden
Despite Pakistan’s efforts to send him back to Jordan, al-Zarqawi managed to reach Afghanistan and in early 2002, Osama bin Laden offered him a job in his elite terrorist organization, al-Qaeda. He turned it down, still preferring to operate alone and having no interest in Bin Laden’s jihad (holy war) against the United States.
He did, however, accept an offer made by Muhammed Makawi, bin Laden’s head of security, to set up a training camp for his own men at Herat, which included Afghan Arabs, Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian Moslems. All had intended to join the jihad in Chechnya and none had succeeded in reaching it.
It was there, in the Herat terror training camp, that Ahmad Fadheel Nazaal al-Khalaylah formally became Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in the world, second only to Osama bin Laden.
On the Run, Fleeing the Americans
The American bombing of Afghanistan was the wakeup call that sent al-Zarqawi into hiding and out of Herat. He fled through Kandahar, then Pakistan and finally reached Iran together with his men, while the women and children were sent to Turkey.
His stay in Iran was short-lived, however, due to pressure from the Americans. The Iranian government shut down his operation and arrested more than 20 of his followers, prompting him to head for northern Iraq, where he re-established his base of operations and training camps.
The American war on Iraq in 2003 was the catalyst that changed the target of al-Zarqawi’s wrath and transformed him into an enemy of the United States and its coalition members, swearing allegiance to Osama bin Laden at last in 2004.
One of the Most Brutal Terrorists in Modern History
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for some of the most brutal terrorist murders in modern history, second only to Osama bin Laden, who praised him in December 2004 as “the head of al-Qaeda in the land of the two rivers” – Iraq.
Al-Zarqawi personally beheaded at least two American hostages and masterminded a triple suicide bombing in November 2005 against hotels in Amman, murdering 60 people as well as others in multiple attacks in Jordan.
He also carried out a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel earlier this year, aiming at what he maintained was the U.S.’s favorite country. The Americans, he said, were the new Crusaders, and together with the Jews were the enemies of the Moslem nation. Al-Zarqawi claimed the American occupation of Iraq was ordered by a government “infected with Zionism” and whose aim was to establish a “Greater Israel”.
The U.S. government announced a bounty of $25 million for his capture – the same price as that placed on Osama bin Laden’s head. On Wednesday evening, the challenge to world intelligence was met.
Al-Zarqawi’s body was positively identified by facial recognition and fingerprints.
Attacks claimed by Zarqawi and followers include:
Dec. 2005 - Volley of rockets fired from southern Lebanon into Israel.
Nov. 2005 - Triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60.
Aug. 2005 - Katyusha attack in Aqaba, Jordan, towards Israel and U.S. Navy ship; one Jordanian soldier killed.
March 2004 - Multiple attack, including suicide bombers, mortar shells and planted explosives, against Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing close to 200.
Assorted car- and truck-bombs, one of which killed 125 people, and others that killed dozens each
Hostage-beheadings
Maliki told reporters that the top terrorist in his country and seven of his followers were killed in a house destroyed by F-16 fighter jets in an American air strike some 50 kilometers (36 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Two 500-pound bombs were dropped on the house in which al-Zarqawi and his aides were found. Intelligence reports from residents in the area were passed on to Iraqi security forces that collaborated with U.S. troops in the strike.
An Early Start on the Road to Terror
Zarqawi began his road to terrorism early in life, starting in his youth as a juvenile delinquent with poor grades and little interest in academic study.
He was born in 1966 in the Jordanian town of Zarqa, a town north of Amman, to the Bani Hassan tribe, known for its loyalty to the Hashemite family. According to a biography by Dr. Loretta Napoleoni of the Dayan Center, Zarqawi – born Ahmad Fadheel Nazaal al-Khalaylah – spent most of his childhood playtime in the cemetery across from his home. He was held back in school, was known as a rebel and ended up in jail while still in his teens.
Al-Zarqawi was captivated by the stories he heard about Afghan Arabs in the local mosque after he was released from his first jail term, and headed for Afghanistan in 1989, reaching the city of Khost toward the end of the war. He soon moved to Peshawar, where he became a Moslem fundamentalist, and then moved again, this time to the Sada terror camp where he honed his operational skills and deepened his commitment to Moslem extremist ideology.
A Terrorist in his Homeland
In 1993 al-Zarqawi returned to his homeland, where he joined the Islamist resistance against the late King Hussein and the budding peace process with Israel. Within a year he was arrested and by 1995 he was back in jail together with his mentor and leader of the Islamist resistance movement, Abu Muhammed al-Maqdisi, a Jordanian terrorist leader he met in Peshawar.
It was during that second prison term that al-Zarqawi began training to become an Islamist terror machine, working out physically and studying classic Moslem literature, including the Koran. The training program paid off; he became the leader of the prisoners who shared al-Maqdisi’s theology. The absolute unity of Allah was mirrored in this ideology and echoed in the unity of a Sharia-based (religious law) society. Non-observers were considered infidels. Infidels were sentenced to death.
While serving a 15-year prison term, Al-Zarqawi and al-Maqdisi were released in 1999 by newly-crowned King Abdullah II, son of the late King Hussein and Jordan’s current ruler. Later that same year, al-Zarqawi once again set out for Afghanistan. He was delayed in Pakistan, however, when his passport was confiscated.
Still a Loner, Says ‘No’ to Osama bin Laden
Despite Pakistan’s efforts to send him back to Jordan, al-Zarqawi managed to reach Afghanistan and in early 2002, Osama bin Laden offered him a job in his elite terrorist organization, al-Qaeda. He turned it down, still preferring to operate alone and having no interest in Bin Laden’s jihad (holy war) against the United States.
He did, however, accept an offer made by Muhammed Makawi, bin Laden’s head of security, to set up a training camp for his own men at Herat, which included Afghan Arabs, Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian Moslems. All had intended to join the jihad in Chechnya and none had succeeded in reaching it.
It was there, in the Herat terror training camp, that Ahmad Fadheel Nazaal al-Khalaylah formally became Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in the world, second only to Osama bin Laden.
On the Run, Fleeing the Americans
The American bombing of Afghanistan was the wakeup call that sent al-Zarqawi into hiding and out of Herat. He fled through Kandahar, then Pakistan and finally reached Iran together with his men, while the women and children were sent to Turkey.
His stay in Iran was short-lived, however, due to pressure from the Americans. The Iranian government shut down his operation and arrested more than 20 of his followers, prompting him to head for northern Iraq, where he re-established his base of operations and training camps.
The American war on Iraq in 2003 was the catalyst that changed the target of al-Zarqawi’s wrath and transformed him into an enemy of the United States and its coalition members, swearing allegiance to Osama bin Laden at last in 2004.
One of the Most Brutal Terrorists in Modern History
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for some of the most brutal terrorist murders in modern history, second only to Osama bin Laden, who praised him in December 2004 as “the head of al-Qaeda in the land of the two rivers” – Iraq.
Al-Zarqawi personally beheaded at least two American hostages and masterminded a triple suicide bombing in November 2005 against hotels in Amman, murdering 60 people as well as others in multiple attacks in Jordan.
He also carried out a rocket attack from Lebanon into northern Israel earlier this year, aiming at what he maintained was the U.S.’s favorite country. The Americans, he said, were the new Crusaders, and together with the Jews were the enemies of the Moslem nation. Al-Zarqawi claimed the American occupation of Iraq was ordered by a government “infected with Zionism” and whose aim was to establish a “Greater Israel”.
The U.S. government announced a bounty of $25 million for his capture – the same price as that placed on Osama bin Laden’s head. On Wednesday evening, the challenge to world intelligence was met.
Al-Zarqawi’s body was positively identified by facial recognition and fingerprints.
Attacks claimed by Zarqawi and followers include:
Dec. 2005 - Volley of rockets fired from southern Lebanon into Israel.
Nov. 2005 - Triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60.
Aug. 2005 - Katyusha attack in Aqaba, Jordan, towards Israel and U.S. Navy ship; one Jordanian soldier killed.
March 2004 - Multiple attack, including suicide bombers, mortar shells and planted explosives, against Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing close to 200.
Assorted car- and truck-bombs, one of which killed 125 people, and others that killed dozens each
Hostage-beheadings