Al-Zarqawi's brother says family anticipated his death

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s elder brother today said today the family had anticipated the death of the notorious al-Qaida in Iraq leader for some time.

“We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time,” Sayel al-Khalayleh said from Zarqa, the poor industrial Jordanian hometown of al-Zarqawi from which he derived his name.

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

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