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'''Nick Tyler''' is
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[[Image:Zarqawi.jpg|thumb|right|frame|Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a Jordanian prison photograph.]]
'''Abu Musab al-Zarqawi''' ('''{{lang-ar|أبومصعب الزرقاوي}}''') (c. October [[1966]] – [[June 7]] [[2006]]) was a [[Salafi]] [[Militant Islam|Muslim]] leader and the self-proclaimed leader of [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]]. One or more individuals identifying themselves as Zarqawi took responsibility, on several audiotapes, for numerous acts in [[Iraq]], including the killing of soldiers representing the U.S. led occupation. He was also believed to be responsible for taking [[hostage]]s and killing many civilians, including the [[decapitation|beheading]] of hostages (possibly including [[Nick Berg]] and [[Ken Bigley]]) in Iraq.
As an [[Islamism|Islamist]] identified with the Salafi movement, Zarqawi opposed the presence of American and Western military forces in the [[Islamic world]] and opposed the West's support for [[Israel]]. In September 2005, he reportedly declared "all-out war" on [[Shia]] [[Muslim]]s in Iraq <ref name="aljazeera">{{cite news | url = http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/407AAE91-AF72-45D7-83E9-486063C0E5EA.htm | work = Al Jazeera | title = Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia | date = [[2005-09-14]] }}</ref> and is believed responsible for dispatching numerous [[Al-Qaeda]] [[Suicide attack|suicide bombers]] throughout Iraq, especially to areas with large concentrations of Shia civilians. As the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq he is suspected of causing thousands of people's deaths – many, if not most of them, military and soldiers.
Zarqawi, a longtime ally of [[Osama bin Laden]], was a high-ranking member of bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, and since October 2004 had referred to his own organization [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq|Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad]], or Monotheism and Holy War Group, an [[Iraqi insurgency|insurgent]] network operating in Iraq, as "Al-Qaeda in Iraq". On [[October 21]] [[2004]], Zarqawi officially announced his allegiance to Al Qaeda; on [[December 27]] [[2004]], [[Al Jazeera]] broadcast an [[audiotape]] of bin Laden calling Zarqawi "the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq" and asked "all our organization brethren to listen to him and obey him in his good deeds."<ref name="cnn.com">{{cite news | url = http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/27/binladen.tape/ | title = Purported bin Laden tape endorses al-Zarqawi | work = CNN | date = [[2004-12-27]] }}</ref>
Zarqawi was the most wanted man in [[Jordan]] and [[Iraq]],<ref name="bbc">{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4581801.stm | publisher= BBC | title = Iraq backs Zarqawi wounded claim | date = [[2005-05-26]] }}</ref> having participated in or masterminded a number of violent actions against [[United States]] targets. The U.S. government offered a [[United States dollar|USD]] $25 million reward for information leading to his capture, the same amount offered for the capture of bin Laden before March 2004. On [[October 15]] [[2004]], the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] added Zarqawi and the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad group to [[U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations]] and ordered a freeze on any assets that the group might have in the United States. On [[February 24]] [[2006]], the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]]'s [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] also added al-Zarqawi to the "Seeking Information – War on Terrorism" list, the first time that he had ever been added to any of the [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists|FBI's three major "wanted" lists]].<ref name="24threlease">{{cite press release | url= http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/mostwantedterrorists022406.htm | title = FBI Updates Most Wanted Terrorists and Seeking Information – War on Terrorism Lists | publisher = FBI | date= [[February 24]] [[2006]]}}</ref>
{{Wikinews|Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in airstrike}}
Zarqawi was killed in [[Baquba]] by a United States airstrike on [[June 7]] [[2006]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Iraq Terror Chief Killed In Airstrike | date=[[2006-06-08]] | publisher=CBS News | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/08/iraq/main1692753.shtml }}</ref>
==Earlier years==
One [[pseudonym|alias]], '''Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh''' ({{lang-ar|أحمد فضيل النزال الخلايله}}), is believed to have been his real name. The surname Zarqawi literally translates as "man from Zarqa". Zarqawi was a native of the Jordanian city of [[Zarqa]], located 30 minutes northeast of the capital [[Amman]].<ref name="bbc2">{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2730253.stm | publisher = BBC |title = Zarqawi and the 'al-Qaeda link' | date = [[2003-02-05]] }}</ref><ref name="bbc3">{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3483089.stm | publisher = BBC | title = Profile: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi | date = [[2005-11-10]] }}</ref>
The son of a native [[Jordan]]ian family (al-Khalayleh of the [[Beni Hassan]] tribe), Zarqawi grew up in the Jordanian city of [[Zarqa]] amidst [[poverty]] and squalor. At the age of 17, he dropped out of school. According to vague Jordanian intelligence reports, Zarqawi was jailed briefly in the [[1980s]]. Subsequently, he was active as a [[militant]] in [[Afghanistan]], Jordan, Iraq and elsewhere.
In 1989, Zarqawi travelled to Afghanistan to join the [[insurgency]] against the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan|Soviet invasion]], but the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]s were already leaving by the time he arrived. It is thought that he met and befriended Osama bin Laden while there. Instead of fighting, he became a [[reporter]] for an Islamist newsletter. There are reports that in the mid-1990s, Zarqawi travelled to [[Europe]] and started the [[al-Tawhid]] militant organization, a group dedicated to installing an Islamic regime in Jordan.
Zarqawi was arrested in Jordan in 1992, and spent seven years in a Jordanian [[prison]] for conspiring to overthrow the [[monarchy]] to establish an Islamic [[Caliph|caliphate]]. According to some reports in prison Zarqawi reportedly became a feared leader among inmates. According to others, he lacked the intelligence and charisma to lead any organization.
Upon his release from prison in 1999, Zarqawi was involved in an attempt to blow up the [[Radisson Hotels & Resorts|Radisson]] SAS Hotel in [[Amman, Jordan]] where many Israeli and American tourists lodged. He fled Jordan and travelled to [[Peshawar]], [[Pakistan]], near the Afghanistan border. In Afghanistan, Zarqawi established a militant training camp near [[Herat, Afghanistan|Herat]]. According to the [[George W. Bush|Bush administration]], the training camp specialized in [[poison]]s and explosives.
Jordanian and European intelligence agencies claim that Zarqawi formed the group Jund al-Sham in 1999 with $200,000 of startup money from [[Osama bin Laden]]. The group originally consisted of 150 members. It was infiltrated by members of Jordanian intelligence and scattered by [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] but in March 2005, a group of the same name claimed responsibility for a bombing in [[Doha]], [[Qatar]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Alexis | last=Debat | title=The New Head of Jihad Inc.? | publisher=ABC News | date=[[March 28]], [[2005]] | url=http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=610353&page=1}}</ref>
Sometime in 2001, Zarqawi was arrested in Jordan but was soon released. Later, he was convicted [[List of Latin phrases#I|in absentia]] and [[death sentence|sentenced to death]] for plotting the attack on the Radisson SAS Hotel.<ref name="bbc3">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3483089.stm bbc3]</ref>
After the [[September 11 attacks]], Zarqawi again travelled to Afghanistan and was allegedly wounded in a U.S. bombardment. He moved to [[Iran]] to organize al-Tawhid, his former militant organization. Zarqawi supposedly traveled to Iraq to have his wounded leg treated at a hospital run by [[Uday Hussein]]. In the summer of 2002, Zarqawi was reported to have settled in northern Iraq, where he joined the Islamist [[Ansar al-Islam]] group that fought against Kurdish-[[nationalism|nationalist]] forces in the region.<ref>{{cite news | first=Bill | last=O'Reilly| title=The Terrible Truth About Terror | date=September 16, 2004 | publisher=BillOReilly.com | url=http://www.billoreilly.com/site/product?pid=18770 }}</ref> He reportedly became a leader in the group, although his leadership role has not been established.
In [[Colin Powell]]'s famous February 2003 speech to the [[United Nations]] urging war against Iraq, Zarqawi was cited as an example of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s support for terrorism. In his speech, Powell mistakenly referred to Zarqawi as a [[Palestinian]], but Powell and the [[George W. Bush administration|Bush administration]] continued to stand by statements that Zarqawi linked Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda.
At the time, Zarqawi's group was a rival of bin Laden's. A [[CIA]] report in late 2004 concluded that it had no evidence Saddam's government was involved or aware of this medical treatment, and that "There’s no conclusive evidence the Saddam Hussein regime had harbored Zarqawi."<ref>{{cite news | title=CIA report finds no Zarqawi-Saddam link | date=October 6, 2004 | publisher=Reuters | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6189795/ }}</ref> <ref>{{cite news | title=CIA Questions Saddam's Ties to Al Qaeda | date=October 5, 2004 | publisher=ABC News | url=http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/IraqCoverage/story?id=144396&page=1 }}</ref> One U.S. official summarized the report: "The evidence is that Saddam never gave Zarqawi anything."<ref name="commondreams">{{cite news | title=CIA Review Finds No Evidence Saddam Had Ties to Islamic Terrorists | date=October 5, 2004 | publisher=Knight-Ridder | url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1005-01.htm }}</ref> However, Jordan's [[King Abdullah]] stated in an interview that Jordan had detailed information of where in Iraq Zarqawi lived. Jordan attempted to have Zarqawi extradited, "but our demands that the former regime [of Saddam Hussein] hand him over were in vain," King Abdullah said.<ref>{{cite news | title=Saddam refused to hand Zarqawi to Jordan: King Abdullah | date=May 19, 2005 | publisher=AP | url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/May/middleeast_May570.xml§ion=middleeast&col= }}</ref>
According to <ref>{{cite news | title=Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind | date=March 2, 2004 | publisher=NBC News | url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/ }}</ref> , [[the Pentagon]] had pushed to "take out" Zarqawi's operation at least three times prior to the [[Iraq war|invasion of Iraq]], but had been vetoed by the [[National Security Council]]. The council's decision was made because they thought it would make it harder to convince other countries to join the US in a coalition against Iraq. "People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of pre-emption against terrorists," said former National Security Council member Roger Cressey. Former CIA official [[Michael Scheuer]] told reporters that the Bush Administration "had Mr. Zarqawi in his sights for almost every day for a year before the invasion of Iraq and he didn't shoot because they were wining and dining the [[French]] in an effort to get them to assist us in the invasion of Iraq."<ref>{{cite news | title=Bush turned down chances to kill Zarqawi: Ex-CIA spy | date=May 1, 2006 | publisher=ABC News (Australia) | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1627197.htm
}}</ref>
== Terrorist and guerrilla attacks ==
=== Assassination of Laurence Foley ===
[[Laurence Foley]] was a senior U.S. diplomat working for the [[U.S. Agency for International Development]] in Jordan. On [[October 28]], [[2002]], he was [[assassin]]ated outside his home in [[Amman]]. Under [[interrogation]] by Jordanian authorities, three suspects confessed that they had been armed and paid by Zarqawi to perform the assassination. U.S. officials believe that the planning and execution of the Foley assassination was led by members of Afghan Jihad, the International Mujaheddin Movement, and [[al-Qaeda]]. One of the leaders, Salim Sa'd Salim Bin-Suwayd, was paid over USD$27,858 for his work in planning assassinations in Jordan against U.S., Israeli, and Jordanian government officials. Suwayd was arrested in Jordan for the murder of Foley.<ref name="global">{{cite web | year=2006| title=Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad / Unity and Jihad Group | format=HTML | work=GlobalSecurity.org | url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/zarqawi.htm | accessdate=2006-06-09}}</ref> Zarqawi was again sentenced ''in absentia'' in Jordan; this time, as before, his sentence was death.
=== Nicholas Berg ===
In May 2004, a [[videotape]] was released showing a group of five men [[beheading]] American civilian [[Nicholas Berg]], who had been abducted and taken hostage in Iraq weeks earlier. The speaker on the tape, wielding the knife that killed Berg, is rumoured to be al-Zarqawi. He stated that the murder was in retaliation for US abuses at the [[Abu Ghraib prison]] (see [[Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal]]); [[CIA]] analysis of the voice claimed that it was Zarqawi's <ref name="bbc5">{{cite news | title='Zarqawi' beheaded US man in Iraq | date=May 13, 2004 | publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3712421.stm }}</ref>. The CIA analysis failed to quell doubts about the validity of the claim because, among other reasons, the man wears a mask in the video and did not resemble Zarqawi in other ways. (see, for instance, this article<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard | last=Neville | title=Who killed Nick Berg? | date=May 29, 2004 | publisher=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/28/1085641717320.html }}</ref> in ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''.) Various Middle East correspondents/experts including [[CNN]]'s Octavia Nasr have stated that the person talking on the Berg tape was not al-Zarqawi because he didn't speak with a Jordanian accent.
=== Other incidents ===
* U.S. officials believe that Zarqawi trained others in the use of [[poison]] ([[ricin]]<ref>{{cite news | first=William | last=Blum | title=The American Myth Industry | date=May 21, 2005 | publisher=CounterPunch | url=http://www.counterpunch.org/blum05212005.html }}</ref>) for possible attacks in [[Europe]], ran a "terrorist haven" in [[Kurd]]ish northern Iraq, and organized the bombing of a [[Baghdad]] hotel.
* According to suspects arrested in [[Turkey]], Zarqawi sent them to [[Istanbul]] to organize an attack on a [[NATO]] summit there on [[June 28]] or [[June 29]] of [[2004]].
* United States officials blame Zarqawi for over 700 killings in Iraq during the invasion, mostly from bombings.
* According to the [[United States State Department]], Zarqawi is responsible for the [[Canal Hotel bombing]] of the United Nations Headquarters in Iraq on [[August 19]], [[2003]]. This attack killed twenty-two people, including the [[United Nations secretary general]]'s special Iraqi envoy [[Sergio Vieira de Mello]].<ref>{{cite press release | publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]] | date=[[2004-10-15]] | title=Foreign Terrorist Organization: Designation of Jama�at al-Tawhid wa�al-Jihad and Aliases | url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/37130.htm | accessdate=2006-04-21}}</ref>
* Zarqawi is believed by the former [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] in Iraq to have written an intercepted letter to the al-Qaeda leadership in February 2004 on the progress of the "Iraqi [[jihad]]." Many observers do not believe that Zarqawi wrote the letter.
* In [[2004]] Zarqawi alledgedly personally beheaded the [[British]] hostage [[Ken Bigley]].
* On [[July 11]], [[2004]], a group reportedly led by Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for a [[July 8]] [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] attack in [[Samarra]], Iraq. Five American soldiers and one Iraqi soldier were killed.
* Believed to have coordinated the infamous second battle of "Al [[Fallujah]]" ([[Operation Phantom Fury]]/Operation Al Fajr) in November 2004, fought in the battle himself, then slipped away from coalition forces.
* Jordan accuses Zarqawi of plotting to release a chemical cloud in [[Amman]]. Men were arrested in Amman who purportedly were planning to release the chemical attack. He was convicted in absentia on [[March 20]], [[2005]], and sentenced to fifteen years in prison in addition to his two death sentences for earlier crimes in Jordan.
* Zarqawi is believed to have masterminded the [[2005 Amman bombings|2005 bombings]] in Amman that killed about seventy people in three hotels. <ref>{{cite news | title= Furious Jordanians take to streets | date=Novermber 11, 2005 | publisher=[[CNN]] | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/10/jordan.blasts/index.html }}</ref>
*On [[April 25]], [[2006]] a video appearing to show Zarqawi surfaced <ref name="bbc6">{{cite news | title= 'Zarqawi' shows face in new video | date=April 25, 2006 | publisher=[[BBC]] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4944250.stm }}</ref>. In the tape, the man says holy warriors are fighting on despite a three-year "crusade". US experts told the [[BBC]] they believed the recording was genuine. One part of the recording shows a man - who bears a strong resemblance to previous pictures of Zarqawi - sitting on the floor and addressing a group of masked men with an automatic rifle at his side. "Your mujahideen sons were able to confront the most ferocious of crusader campaigns on a Muslim state," the man says. Addressing US President George W Bush, he says: "Why don't you tell people that your soldiers are committing suicide, taking drugs and hallucination pills to help them sleep?" "By God," he says, "your dreams will be defeated by our blood and by our bodies. What is coming is even worse." The speaker in the video also reproaches the US for its "arrogance and insolence" in rejecting a truce offered by "our prince and leader", Osama Bin Laden.
* The United States Army aired an unedited tape of Zarqawi in May 2006 highlighting the fact that he did not know how to fix a jam on his [[M249 Squad Automatic Weapon]]. Zarqawi was also shown to be wearing [[tennis shoes]] in the video. <ref>{{cite web | title=Abu Musab al-Zarqawi video bloopers | work=YouTube | url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ry674K_T2U | accessdate=2006-06-09}} </ref> The aim of the video was to remove the myth surrounding Zarqawi and to question his prowess as a military leader.
== Credibility questions ==
A U.S.[[Psychological operations|PSYOP]] [[pamphlet|leaflet]] disseminated in [[Iraq]] shows al-Zarqawi caught in a rat trap. Text: "This is your future al-Zarqawi".
Some people have purported that Zarqawi's notoriety is the product of U.S. war [[propaganda]] designed to promote the image of a [[demon]]ic enemy figure to help justify continued U.S. military operations in Iraq <ref name="comw">{{cite web | year=2004| title=The al-Zarqawi Assessment: Another Instance of 'Cooked' Intelligence? | format=HTML | work=[[The Commonwealth Institute]] | url=http://www.comw.org/pda/0410zarqawi.html | accessdate=2006-06-09}}</ref>, perhaps with the tacit support of jihadi elements who wish to use him as a propaganda tool or as a distraction. <ref name="exile">{{cite web | author=Brecher, Gary| year=2005| title=Mister Big Unplugged #215 | format=HTML | work=eXile | url=http://www.exile.ru/2005-June-03/war_nerd.html | accessdate=2006-06-09}}</ref> In one report, the [[conservative]] newspaper ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' described the claim that Zarqawi was the head of the "terrorist network" in Iraq as a "[[mythology|myth]]". This report cited an unnamed U.S. military intelligence source to the effect that the Zarqawi leadership myth was initially caused by faulty intelligence, but was later accepted because it suited U.S. government political goals. <ref>{{cite news |first=Adrian | last=Blomfield | title= How US fuelled myth of Zarqawi the mastermind | date=April 10, 2006 | publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/04/wirq04.xml }}</ref>
One [[Sunni]] insurgent leader claimed on [[11 December]] that "Zarqawi is an [[American]], [[Israeli]] and [[Iranian]] agent who is trying to keep our country unstable so that the Sunnis will keep facing occupation." {{fact}}
On [[February 18]] [[2006]], [[Shiite]] cleric [[Muqtada as-Sadr]] voiced similar concerns: "I believe he is fictitious. He is a knife or a pistol in the hands of the occupier. I believe that all three - the occupation, the [[takfir]] (i.e. the practice of declaring other [[Muslims]] to be heretics) supporters, and the [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam]] supporters - stem from the same source, because the [[takfir]] supporters and the [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam]] supporters are a weapon in the hands of [[America]]. [[America]] pins its crimes on them." <ref name="memri">[http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD110006 memri.org SD110006] - this article no longer exists</ref>
On [[April 10]] [[2006]], the ''[[Washington Post]]'' reported that the U.S. military conducted a major propaganda offensive designed to exaggerate Zarqawi's role in the Iraqi insurgency. Gen. [[Mark Kimmitt]] says of the propaganda campaign that there "was no attempt to manipulate the press." In an internal briefing, Kimmitt is quoted as stating, "The Zarqawi [[PSYOP]] program is the most successful information campaign to date." The main goal of the propaganda campaign seems to have been to exacerbate a rift between insurgent forces in Iraq, but intelligence experts worried that it had actually enhanced Zarqawi's influence. Col. [[Derek Harvey]], "who served as a military intelligence officer in Iraq and then was one of the top officers handling Iraq intelligence issues on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," warned an Army meeting in 2004 that "Our own focus on Zarqawi has enlarged his caricature, if you will -- made him more important than he really is, in some ways." While Pentagon spokespersons state unequivocally that PSYOPs may not be used to influence American citizens, there is little question that the information disseminated through the program has found its way into American media sources. The ''Post'' also notes that "One briefing slide about U.S. "strategic communications" in Iraq, prepared for Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, describes the "home audience" as one of six major targets of the American side of the war." <ref>{{cite news |first=Thomas | last=Ricks | title=Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi | date=April 9, 2006 | publisher=[[The Washington Post]] | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html }}</ref>
==Reported missing leg/death==
===Missing leg===
Claims of harm to Zarqawi have changed over time. Early in 2002, there were unverified reports from [[Afghan Northern Alliance]] members that Zarqawi had been killed by a missile attack in Afghanistan. Many news sources repeated the claim. Later, Kurdish groups claimed that Zarqawi had not died in the missile strike, but had been severely injured, and went to [[Baghdad]] in 2002 to have his leg amputated. On [[October 7]], [[2002]], the day before [[United States Congress|Congress]] voted to give President Bush permission to invade Iraq, Bush gave a speech in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], that repeated this claim as fact. This was one of several of President Bush's primary examples of ways Saddam Hussein had aided, funded, and harbored al-Qaeda. Powell repeated this claim in his February 2003 speech to the UN, urging a resolution for war, and it soon became "common knowledge" that Zarqawi had a [[prosthetic]] leg.
In 2004, ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that some "senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad" had come to believe that he still had his original legs. <ref name="msnbc3">{{cite news | first=Michael | last=Hirsh | title=Terror's Next Stop | date=March 14, 2004 | publisher=[[Newsweek]] | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4524563/site/newsweek/ }}</ref>. [[Knight Ridder]] later reported that the leg amputation was something "officials now acknowledge was incorrect," though it's possible this was merely a restatement of the ''Newsweek'' report.<ref name="commondreams">[http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1005-01.htm]</ref>
When the video of the Berg beheading was released in 2004, credence was given to the claim that Zarqawi was alive and active. The man identified as Zarqawi in the video did not appear to have a prosthetic leg. Videos of Zarqawi aired in 2006 that clearly showed him with both legs intact.
===Claims of death===
In March 2004, an insurgent group in Iraq issued a statement saying that Zarqawi had been killed in April 2003. The statement said that he was unable to escape the missile attack because of his prosthetic leg. His followers claimed he was killed in a US bombing raid in the north of Iraq <ref name="msnbc6">{{cite news | title=Iraq militants claim al-Zarqawi is dead | date=March 4, 2004 | publisher=AP | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4446084/ }}</ref>. The claim that Zarqawi had been killed in northern Iraq "at the beginning of the war," and that subsequent use of his name was a useful myth, was repeated in September 2005 by Sheikh Jawad Al-Khalessi, a Shiite [[imam]]. <ref name="lemonde">{{cite news | title=Abou Moussab Al-Zarkaoui est mort. Son nom est utilisé par les occupants pour rester en Irak | date=September 17, 2005 | publisher=[[Le Monde]] | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=915466 }}</ref>
On [[May 24]] [[2005]], it was reported on an Islamic website that a deputy would take command of Al-Qaeda while Zarqawi recovered from injuries sustained in an attack. Later that week the Iraqi government confirmed that Zarqawi had been wounded by U.S. forces, although the battalion did not realize it at the time. The extent of his injuries is not known, although some [[militant Islam|radical Islamic]] websites called for prayers for his health. There are reports that a local hospital treated a man, suspected to be Zarqawi, with severe injuries. He was also said to have subsequently left Iraq for a neighbouring country, accompanied by two physicians. However, later that week the radical Islamic website retracted its report about his injuries and claimed that he was in fine health and was running the jihad operation.
In an [[September 16]] [[2005]] article published by ''[[Le Monde]]'', Sheikh [[Jawad Al-Kalesi]] claimed that al-Zarqawi was killed in the Kurdish northern region of Iraq at the beginning of the US-led war on the country as he was meeting with members of the [[Ansar al-Islam]] group affiliated to al-Qaeda. Al-Kalesi also claimed "His family in Jordan even held a ceremony after his death." He also claimed that "Zarqawi has been used as a ploy by the United States, as an excuse to continue the occupation. saying that it was a pretext so they don't leave Iraq." <ref name="aljazeera2">{{cite news | title=Cleric says al-Zarqawi died long ago | date=September 17, 2005 | publisher=Al Jazeera | url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73570F02-EA07-492F-9E04-C080950DF180.htm }}</ref>
On [[November 20]] [[2005]], some news sources reported that Zarqawi may have been killed in a coalition assault on a house in [[Mosul]]; five of those in the house were killed in the assault while the other three died through using '[[suicide belt]]s' of explosives. United States and British soldiers searched the remains<ref name="jpost2">{{cite news | title=Report: al-Zarqawi may have been killed in Mosul | date=November 20, 2005 | publisher=The Jerusalem Post | url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132475588009&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull }}</ref>, with U.S. forces using [[DNA]] samples to identify the dead. <ref name="debka">{{cite news | title=Exclusive: US forensic experts should know by Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 22, the identities of the eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders who blew themselves up in Mosul to escape US capture | date=November 20, 2005 | publisher=DEBKAfile | url=http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=1280 }}</ref> However, none of those remains belonged to him.
===Reportedly captured and released===
According to a CNN report dated [[December 15]], [[2005]],<ref>{{cite news | title= Official: Al-Zarqawi caught, released |publisher= CNN | date= December 15, 2005
|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/15/zarqawi.captured/index.html}}</ref>, al-Zarqawi was captured by Iraqi forces sometime during 2004 and later released because his captors did not realize who he was. U.S. officials called the report "plausible" but refused to confirm it.
=== Death confirmed ===
[[Image:Zarqawi dead us govt photo.jpg|thumb|Photo of Zarqawi taken shortly after his death (from U.S. military press release)]]
At 6:15 p.m. local time (14:15 GMT/UTC, 10:15 AM EDT), [[June 7]], [[2006]], Zarqawi, along with five others, including a woman, a child and the man who unwittingly led the Americans to him - his deputy and spiritual adviser, [[Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi]],<ref>{{cite news | title=Deputy unwittingly led troops to al-Zarqawi | date=[[2006-06-08]] | publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer | url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Al_Zarqawi_The_Hunt.html }}</ref> were killed by two 500-pound (230kg) guided bombs dropped by United States Air Force [[F-16]] jets<ref>{{cite news | title= Tucson Raytheon had role in al-Zarqawi death | date=[[2006-06-09]] | publisher=Arizona Daily Star | url=http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/attack/132868 }}</ref> while attending a meeting in an isolated [[safehouse]] approximately 8 [[kilometer|km]] (5 [[mile|mi]]) north of [[Baqubah]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Iraq Terror Chief Killed In Airstrike | date=[[2006-06-08]] | publisher=CBS News | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/08/iraq/main1692753.shtml }}</ref> The joint task force had been tracking him for some time, and although there were some close calls, he had eluded them on many occasions. United States intelligence officials then received tips from Iraqi senior leaders from Zarqawi's network that he and some of his associates were in the Baqubah area.<ref>{{cite news | title= Iraq terrorist leader Zarqawi 'eliminated' | publisher=Guardian Unlimited | date=June 8, 2006 | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1792817,00.html}}</ref> The safehouse itself was watched for over six weeks before Zarqawi was observed entering the building. Jordanian intelligence reportedly helped to identify his ___location.<ref>{{cite news | title= Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid |publisher= Associated Press | date= June 8, 2006
|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_al_zarqawi;_ylt=AiXlfZa9CUN7_QnTLEYt_6lX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl}}</ref> The area was subsequently secured by Iraqi security forces, who were the first ground forces to arrive.
On [[June 8]], [[2006]], coalition forces confirmed that Zarqawi's body was identified by facial recognition, fingerprinting, known scars and tattoos.<ref name="CNNdead">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5058304.stm|title=Iraqi PM confirms Zarqawi death|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=2006-06-08|accessdate=2006-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title= Zarqawi killed in Iraq air raid | date=June 8, 2006 | publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5058304.stm}}</ref> They also confirmed the death of one of his key lieutenants, spiritual adviser Sheik [[Abd-Al-Rahman]].<ref>{{cite news | title= Zarqawi death a 'significant blow' to al-Qaida | publisher=Guardian Unlimited | date=June 8, 2006 | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1793028,00.html}}</ref>
Zarqawi's brother-in-law has since claimed that he was a [[martyr]] even though the family renounced Zarqawi and his actions in the aftermath of the Amman triple suicide bombing that killed at least 60 people. <ref>{{cite news | title=Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Killed in Air Raid| date=[[2006-06-08]] | publisher=AP News | url=http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060608/D8I41K780.html }}</ref> The opinion of Iraqis on his death is mixed; some believe that it will promote peace between the warring factions, while others are convinced that his death will provoke his followers to a massive [[revenge|retaliation]] and cause more bombings and deaths in Iraq.<ref>{{cite news | title=Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Killed in Air Raid| date=[[2006-06-08]] | publisher=AP News | url=http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060608/D8I41K780.html }}</ref>
[[Abu Abdulrahman al-Iraqi]], the deputy of al-Zarqawi, released a statement to [[Islamist]] websites indicating that [[al-Qaeda in Iraq]] also confirmed Zarqawi's death: "We herald the martyrdom of our [[mujahideen|mujahed]] Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq … and we stress that this is an honor to our nation."<ref>{{cite news | title=Qaeda in Iraq confirms Zarqawi's death - Web site | publisher=Reuters | date=June 8, 2006 | url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08233828.htm}}</ref> In the statement, al-Iraqi vowed to continue the jihad in Iraq.
===Alleged betrayal by al-Qaeda===
A day before Zarqawi was killed, a U.S. strategic analysis site <ref>{{cite news | title=Zarqawi Scheduled for Martyrdom - Web site | publisher=StrategyPage| date=[[June 8]], [[2006]] | url=http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20060607.aspx}}</ref> suggested that Zarqawi could have lost the trust of al-Qaeda due to his emphatic anti-[[Shia]] stance and the massacres of civilians allegedly committed in his name. Reports in [[The New York Times]] on June 9th are treating the betrayal by at least one fellow al-Qaeda member as fact, stating that an individual close to Zarqawi disclosed the identity and ___location of Sheik Abd al-Rahman to Jordanian and American intelligence. Non-stop surveillance of al-Rahman quickly led to Zarqawi.
===Reward===
In apparent contradiction to statements made earlier in the day by U.S. ambassador to Iraq [[Zalmay Khalizad]], an Iraqi spokesman said the $25 million reward "will be honored" (although this need not be construed that any money will actually be paid, as the terms of the reward would indeed be "honored" by having no payee if no one qualifies). <ref>{{cite news | title=Reward for al-Zarqawi will be honored |
publisher=Associated Press | date=[[June 8]], [[2006]] | url=http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=126720}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=US: nobody yet identified for big Zarqawi bounty | publisher=Reuters | date=[[June 8]], [[2006]] | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/ts_nm/iraq_zarqawi_bounty_dc_1}}</ref> Khalizad, in an interview by CNN's [[Wolf Blitzer]], had stated the bounty would not be paid because the decisive information leading to Zarqawi's whereabouts had been supplied by a recently captured al-Qaeda-in-Mesopotamia operative whose own complicity in violent acts would disqualify him from receiving payment.
==References==
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== External links ==
* WCBS-TV: [http://wcbstv.com/topstories/topstories_story_159034504.html Al-Zarqawi Killed In Airstrike]
* WCBS-TV: [http://wcbstv.com/slideshows/photoalbum_slideshow_159092605 Images: Al-Zarqawi's Terrors]
[[Category:1966 births|Zarqawi, Abu Musab]]
[[Category:2006 deaths|Zarqawi, Abu Musab]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda members|Zarqawi, Abu Musab]]
[[Category:Jordanian people|Zarqawi, Abu Musab]]
[[Category:Amputees|Zarqawi, Abu Musab]]
killed more jews than hitler
[[ar:أبو مصعب الزرقاوي]]
[[bs:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[ca:Abu Muzab al Zarqaui]]
[[cs:Abú Músa Zarkáví]]
[[cy:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[da:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[de:Abu Musab az-Zarqawi]]
[[es:Abu Musab al Zarqaui]]
[[eo:Abu Musab az-Zarqawi]]
[[fa:ابو مصعب زرقاوی]]
[[fr:Abou Moussab Al-Zarqaoui]]
[[it:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[he:אבו מוסעב א-זרקאווי]]
[[nl:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[ja:アブー＝ムスアブ・アッ＝ザルカーウィー]]
[[no:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[pl:Abu Musab al-Zarkawi]]
[[pt:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[ru:Абу Мусаб аз-Заркауи]]
[[sk:Abú Músa Zarkáví]]
[[sl:Abu Musab al-Zarkavi]]
[[sr:Абу Мусаб ал-Заркави]]
[[fi:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[sv:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]
[[zh:阿布·穆萨布·扎卡维]]
HE was the worst person who ever lived.
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