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Iraq
Al-Zarqawi family reacts to the news
2006-06-08
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's older brother says the family had anticipated the death of the al-Qaeda in Iraq leader for some time. "We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time," Sayil al-Khalayla told The Associated Press on Thursday in a telephone interview from al-Zarqa, the poor industrial town that al-Zarqawi called home and from which he derived his name.
Something to do with his line of work, I guess...
"We expected that he would be martyred," he said, in a low voice, signalling his grief over the death of his brother, whose real name is Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayla. "We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven."
Define "heaven."
In the wake of a triple hotel bombings in Amman last November, claimed by al-Zarqawi's group, his family told King Abdullah II that they "severed links with him until doomsday".
"Yeah. Really. Got nuttin' to do with him. We don't even know him."
In newspaper adverts, 57 members of the al-Khalayla family, including Sayil, reiterated their allegiance to the king.

On Thursday, in Jordan's al-Zarqa town, al-Zarqawi's three sisters arrived at the family home but declined to talk to reporters as they entered the house. With the women was al-Zarqawi's borther-in-law, Abu Qudama, who said: "We are not sad that he's dead. To the contrary, we're happy because he's a martyr and he's now in heaven."

In front of the family house, a 13-year-old boy, who said he was al-Zarqawi's nephew, stared at a crush of reporters who had gathered there. "I'm so sad about my uncle," said the boy, who identified himself as Omar. He said the family heard the news of al-Zarqawi's death on Aljazeera.

Other family members declined to come outside to speak to reporters, who knocked several times on their door. Speaking to Aljazeera on Thursday, Abd al-Bari Atwan, editor of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, said he thought the killing of al-Zarqawi was timed to boost the new Iraqi prime minister. "I think this was an organised coincidence," he said. "I think the Americans planned for this operation a long time ago, which helped them find information about al-Zarqawi's location and lay siege to it. For sure, prime minister al-Maliki, who faces difficulties in forming a national unity government, knew what would happen. Which is why he chose this day to announce the ministers of defence, interior and national security, so that it would coincide with the the killing of al-Zarqawi, which they thought would be a great victory."

Muntasr al-Zayyat, an Egyptian expert on Islamic groups, told Aljazeera: "Al-Maliki and other Iraqi politicians do not recognise the truth. The first thing to know is that the Iraqi resistance is from Iraq itself.
Zark wasn't, though...
"Al-Zarqawi is one of the few mujahidin Arabs (holy fighters) who entered Iraq to fight US and foreign forces which occupied the country. Without the support of honest Iraqis to the Iraqi resistance, al-Zarqawi would not be able to stay all this period doing operations that harmed the occupation forces."
Posted by:Fred

#7  His family also got rich after he took over AQ in Iraq. No contact my ass. Pity if they got burned out of their homes.
Posted by: ed   2006-06-08 19:32  

#6  Why on earth would Zark's family have any sympathy for him whatsoever?

Fame! (Infamy) It's all glory - all fifteen minutes of it. This is the islamist version of entertainment and superheros and hollywood. These are the guys who know the "stars".
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412   2006-06-08 19:29  

#5  Clearly his family back home in Jordan took out that ad in the hope that it would buy them protection from Jordan's secret police, who are not very nice people. Equally clearly, the family is very proud of their son, the terror kingpin. Finally, if we were keeping an eye on al Zarqawi for just ages, think how many of his visitors must have been followed home in the meantime! :-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-06-08 18:40  

#4  Why on earth would Zark's family have any sympathy for him whatsoever? This insurgency isn't going to last forever, and they're going to find themselves on somebody's short list someday.

After the WoT is sewn up, perhaps the next one ought to be the WACT - War Against Conspiracy Theorists. At the very least it ought to get rid of a good part of the shallow end of the gene pool.
Posted by: grb   2006-06-08 15:40  

#3  Got some bad news for ya Sayil. Heaven will be filled with all kinds of people, but there will be a few notable exceptions. Like 'No death-cult gunsexer homicidal psychotic muzzie pieces of sh*t allowed'.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-06-08 09:39  

#2  "we're happy because he's a martyr and he's now in heaven"
So much for shunning and full-page ads and allegiance to the king -- there's still vermin in al-Zarqa.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-06-08 09:27  

#1  he thought the killing of al-Zarqawi was timed to boost the new Iraqi prime minister. "I think this was an organised coincidence," he said. "I think the Americans planned for this operation a long time ago, which helped them find information about al-Zarqawi's location and lay siege to it.

It's always a conspiracy, isn't it?

Do they appreciate Karl Rove?
Posted by: Bobby   2006-06-08 09:04  

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