UNITED NATIONS, June 8 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the world should be relieved by the death of the Jordanian insurgent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"This is an individual who has been responsible for many heinous crimes, caused lots of problems in Iraq for the government and the people of Iraq -- the people of Iraq who are afraid to step out, the people of Iraq who are only demanding peace, stability, and to have their streets back," Annan told reporters Thursday at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
"Of course, we cannot pretend that that will mean the end of the violence," he added. "But it is a relief that such a heinous and dangerous man who has caused so much harm to the Iraqis is no longer around to continue his work."
Asked whether he thought Zarqawi might stray somewhat dangerously close to the line drawn by the Geneva Convention against targeted assassinations, he replied that Iraq was a war zone.
"And there are lots of groups fighting with each other. There are lots of militias, armies and others. And with Zarqawi, if it is him indeed who has been killed, has been at war. He's been in a fight. So I don't think you can equate it to targeted assassination of the kind that we have seen elsewhere," the secretary-general said.
Annan's statement came on the same day the United Nations hailed the completion of a new Iraqi government. The key ministries of defense, national security and interior were the last posts remaining to be filled.
