| The ruling Palestinian faction Hamas on Friday denied issuing a statement mourning the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, but hailed him as a symbol of resistance to occupation. Reuters received a statement on Thursday saying that Hamas mourned Zarqawi, killed in a strike north of Baghdad by US warplanes on Wednesday. Sami Abu-Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said on Friday that "Hamas did not issue any statement in this regard." He also said that Hamas "reiterates its supportive position to all liberation movements and foremost the Iraqi liberation movement, for which Zarqawi was one of the symbols in the face of the American occupation." |