Zarqawi family asks for body

2006-06-09 19:01

Zarqa - The family of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has asked the United States to hand over the Jordanian's body for burial according to Muslim tradition.

For Mohammed Fadhil al-Khalayleh, 40, returning the body of his younger brother, who died in a US air strike on Wednesday night, is a matter of dignity and right.

"If they have any remaining respect for our religion then they should give us the body of Abu Musab, this is our right as a family," said Mohammed at a wake, organised by the family in the city of Zarqa, 25km from Amman.

Jordan branded Zarqawi as a top terrorist, who sought to destabilise the kingdom.

Officials said it may accept that the body be handed over to the family for burial out of humanitarian considerations, in deference to Muslim tradition.

Khalayleh, the eldest son in a family of 10, last saw his brother before Zarqawi left Jordan for Afghanistan in 2000.

'He is a man who fought for God's sake'

"I am very proud...he was a man who fought for God's sake in Afghanistan and Iraq, and asked for martyrdom and God gave it to him," said Khalayleh, who offered wake visitors sweets to signify joy instead of the traditional bitter coffee of sorrow.

Zarqawi is believed to have been behind some of the most spectacular suicide bombings in Iraq and was blamed for videotaped beheadings of some foreign hostages.

For some, he had come to symbolise the Islamic counter-attacks against the US-led forces occupying Iraq.

Viewed by his opponents as a ruthless murderer, he is celebrated as a cult figure in the town where he grew up.

"He is in our hearts. Every Muslim said a silent prayer for his soul," said Salem Khalayleh, a mechanic at the wake.

Not a wake but a 'wedding'

Tribesmen and family members praised Zarqawi, saying he had earned "his rightful place in heaven as a Muslim martyr" by fighting US occupation forces. Others discussed his "charisma and bravery".

"He is now with saints and the Prophet's (Mohammed) closest followers," said Yousef Sulaiti, behind a large banner that read "the wedding of martyred hero Abu Musab".

Jailed by Jordanian authorities for several years in the early 1990s, Zarqawi went on to fight US forces in Iraq. Osama bin Laden reportedly named him the "prince" of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

"The ugly acts in Iraq were blamed on him to smear his reputation and his bravery in bringing America to its feet in Iraq," said Khalil Khalayleh, an uncle. "His martyrdom will be an great inspiration for others."

- Reuters