Al-Zarqawi’s family ‘expected him to be martyred’

MEMBERS of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s family were yesterday mourning the death of the notorious terrorist leader killed in Iraq.

But victims of al-Zarqawi’s bomb attacks on three Jordanian hotels welcomed his death as divine justice.

“We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time,” al-Zarqawi’s brother, Sayel al-Khalayleh, said from Zarqa, the poor industrial Jordanian town that al-Zarqawi called home and from which he derived his name.

“We expected that he would be martyred,” the brother said in a low voice, signalling his grief over the death of al-Zarqawi, whose real name was Ahmed Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh.

“We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven,” he added.

Mr al-Khalayleh was one of 57 family members who signed a newspaper ad to disavow al-Zarqawi after the suicide bombings in Amman last November that killed 63 people.

But families devastated by al-Zarqawi’s terrorism against his native Jordan were pleased by the news.

“Finally, God’s justice prevailed and we feel some relief,” said Ashraf al-Akhras, who lost his father and 16 family members in the November 9 bombings.

An Iraqi suicide bomber linked to al-Zarqawi blew himself up at a wedding reception for Mr al-Akhras, killing and wounding scores of people.

In Zarqa, al-Zarqawi’s three sisters, all dressed in black, arrived at the one-storey family home looking grief stricken.

They declined to speak to any reporters.

But the husband of one, who identified himself as Abu Qudama, said: “We’re not sad that he’s dead.”

“To the contrary, we’re happy because he’s a martyr and he’s now in heaven,” added the man.

In front of the family home, 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 of the death on Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

Al-Zarqawi’s group has vowed more strikes in Jordan, a US ally that signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and has been the target of several al-Qaida terror plots because of its moderate stance and vocal criticism of extremist Islamic groups.