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SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION ON ZARQAWI 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "What after Zarqawi?" 
 
Jordanian nationalist writer Abdullah Abou Rumman 
writes on the op-ed page of semi-official, influential 
Arabic daily Al-Rai: "The end of Zarqawi clearly 
signals the end of Al-Qaeda's era in Iraq.  His non- 
Iraqi followers will now seek individually escape 
routes that save them from arrest or death.  This 
starts a new challenge, because Arab governments and 
intelligence agencies know very little about these 
individuals. They have high fighting ability, they are 
ideologically charged, and they are antagonistic, they 
are trained in urban warfare, but most dangerously, 
they are unknown. A decade and a half ago, the return 
of the Arab Afghans presented enough problems, and 
they were known, if only because of the visas stamped 
on their passports, besides the fact that their 
training was in open warfare. Resisting the danger 
posed by the return of Al-Qaeda's fighters from Iraq 
will require a joint effort by governments, civil 
society institutions, and religious organizations, 
which need to rehabilitate them through changing the 
discourse and bridging the gap between government and 
the people."" 
 
-- "One battle against terror has been won" 
 
Chief Editor Ayman Al-Safadi writes on the back-page 
of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad: 
"Zarqawi fell, but it remains for us to fell the 
phenomenon of Zarqawi or the bigger Zarqawi, which is 
the specious ideology by which he lived.  This will be 
a hard battle, but an inevitable one for defeating 
terror." 
 
-- "May the martyrs of the hotels rest in peace" 
 
An op-ed signed by "The Editor" of semi-official, 
influential Arabic daily Al-Rai intoned: "Our battle 
with terror, its symbols and its discourse is not 
over.  But the end of Zarqawi, the way it happened, 
must be a lesson to terrorists that they would not 
escape their just punishment." 
 
-- "Zarqawi is dead, but what of the Zarqawists?" 
 
Regular commentator and Amman correspondent for the 
pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera Yasser Abou 
Hilaleh observed in an analysis in centrist, 
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad: "Zarqawi expected 
this end and actually sought it.  This is why his 
favorite house, to which he returned frequently, was 
right across the street from a cemetery, with the 
narrow street drawing a thin line separating life from 
death.  Now Zarqawi is dead, but the factors that 
created the phenomenon of Zarqawi are still active." 
 
-- "After Zarqawi. has the danger to Jordan vanished?" 
 
Columnist Fahed Al-Khitan writes on the inside page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm 
concluded: "Observers believe that Jordan's indirect 
participation in the killing of Zarqawi will push Al- 
Qaeda to continue their attempts to penetrate this 
country with terrorist operations.  Others believe 
that the disappearance of Zarqawi, with the special 
enmity that he bore to the Jordanian state will 
minimize the chances of Jordan being targeted.  But 
the end of Zarqawi does not necessarily mean the end 
of the organization in Iraq or in Jordan, and 
consequently the role of Jordan in the fight against 
terror will continue, now that it has become an end in 
itself, and a basis of the state's local and regional 
discourse." 
 
-- "Mistakes!" 
 
Columnist Nahed Hattar writes on the back-page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm: 
"It would be appropriate to remember that the party 
that killed Zarqawi is itself terrorist, but with 
enormous capabilities.  It is responsible, through its 
occupation of Iraq, for the political and security 
state of chaos in that country, which became a haven 
for Al-Qaeda after the occupation not before it.  We 
must not forget that the American occupiers also kill 
civilians on a large scale, bomb weddings, and carry 
out massacres. What, then is the difference between 
Bush the Little and Abu Mus'ab Al-zarqawi?  Only in 
his resources.  Otherwise he is also a religious 
extremist and a beheader. Jordanian public opinion, 
which is united against terror, is divided regarding 
the operation not regarding its result, but because it 
is American." 
 
-- "Zarqawi outside the game; what about his network?" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Abu Romman writes on the op-ed page 
of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad:  "With 
the killing of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the curtain fell on 
the life of a person who was very controversial and 
who raised so many questions in the Arab and 
international cultural, political and media arenas. 
Yet, the fact that Zarqawi is now out of the security 
game in Iraq and the region does not mean that the 
role of his network, which he established in just a 
few years, is over.  A great number of analysts and 
researchers are skeptical about the power of Zarqawi 
and his network and believe that there was a 
deliberate exaggeration by the western media to make 
this network a coat hanger for clarifying or 
justifying the American security and political failure 
following the downfall of the Saddam regime.  In 
truth, this approach of belittling this network and 
its activities is completely wrong.  The main thing 
that explains the record time in which this network 
has risen is the nature of circumstances that 
accompanied the fall of the Saddam regime.  There had 
been hundreds of Arab volunteers who remained in Iraq, 
and the Zarqawi group, which was limited at the time, 
was the only party that could accommodate them..  The 
Sunni community provided a safe haven for the group, 
because that community felt the danger and picked up 
on the many messages from Shiite powers and from the 
American occupation that the Sunnis are going to be 
the main loser from the new developments.  The 
exclusion - or lack of participation - of the Sunnis 
in the political process played a major role in 
providing Zarqawi with Iraqi supporters and members.. 
The main question that begs itself now is what is the 
fate of his network now that Zarqawi is gone?  On the 
domestic Iraqi front, there are major challenges that 
face the network . most importantly the relationship 
with the Sunni community..  One of the other issues 
that face Al-Qaeda is how unified is the organization 
after Zarqawi's death..  Regionally, it is evident 
that the headquarters of Al-Qaeda on the global level 
has moved, of late, of middle Asia to the Middle East 
and in Iraq specifically..  This regional activity is 
going to be affected in the short term by Zarqawi's 
killing and will become weak until the organization 
adapts to the new changes inside Iraq.  One of the 
lead countries to benefit from Zarqawi's killing is 
Jordan.  The new leader will most likely be an Iraqi 
who does not have any historical problems with Jordan 
as Zarqawi had..  Reading the future of Al-Qaeda, one 
must stress the fact that the flourishing and growth 
of these groups did not come from a vacuum, but was 
the product of the current general crisis.  As long as 
the political, economic and cultural situation stays 
deteriorated, and as long there is foreign aggression 
and domestic helplessness to face up to it, there will 
always be opportunity for thousands of Zarqawis to 
surface." 
 
-- "The uninnocent timing" 
 
Columnist Khairallah Khairallah writes on the op-ed 
page of centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad: 
"Abu Musab Zarqawi's end was more than normal.  It is 
the end of anyone who takes up terrorism and kills in 
the name of religion.  Abu Musab Zarqawi could not but 
get what was coming to him for all that he has done to 
women and children and all that he has done to his 
country Jordan.  Yet, one must ask: Is getting rid of 
him the beginning of the end of the civil war that 
Iraq has entered?  Or is the assassination of the 
number one terrorist in Iraq just another chapter of 
this civil war and that it was time to get rid of the 
man who has completed his assigned tasks of stirring 
sectarianism that lead to the civil war and provide it 
with the necessary fuel?  Going back to Zarqawi's 
speeches, he came across as an almost illiterate man. 
Could someone of this caliber lead the battle against 
the American occupation of Iraq?  Could there be a 
logical explanation for the admiration that shown to 
him by many Arabs?  Or is the only logical explanation 
of this phenomenon lies in the fact that the Arab 
failure has exceeded all expectation and a hero had to 
be found even if he was an exceptional terrorist in 
the crime field..  No doubt, the American occupation 
bears huge responsibility for what has transpired in 
Iraq.  No sane person can forget that the Americans 
plants the seeds of sectarianism in Iraq when they 
linked the preparation to war with the access of the 
Shiite majority to authority..  Does Zarqawi's death 
benefit the Americans in any way?  Does it benefit 
Iraq and the Iraqis? The answer to that question is 
still hard to find." 
 
-- "Let them shed their masks.  Are they with our 
country or against it?" 
 
An op-ed signed by "The Editor" appeared in semi- 
official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (06/10), 
commenting on the Deputies' visit of condolence to the 
Zarqawi house: "Shocking and vexing is this act of 
defiance by representatives of the Islamic Action 
Front against their countrymen who have not forgotten 
and who will not forget the blood of the innocent 
victims who fell victim to the explosive belts of Abu 
Mus'ab, a crime to which he claimed responsibility as 
documented in voice and image. The Islamic Action 
Front and its Deputies should decide now whether they 
are with this country, its interests, and its people, 
or whether they are on the side of violence and 
terror, on the side of the enemies of the Ummah and 
its noble religion." 
 
-- "Why have you sided with the murderer and stabbed 
the martyrs?" 
 
Daily columnist Sultan Hattab writes on the op-ed page 
of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai: 
"Those who traveled to Zarqa to pay condolences on the 
death of Zarqawi: Shame on you for stabbing us in the 
back in the name of condolences, for a criminal who 
was wanted shocking crimes!  You would have done 
better to console and comfort the families of the 
martyrs in Amman who fell victim to his crimes, 
because they did not stab this country and did not 
kill innocent people whether by beheading them or by 
sending explosive belts to blow up the innocent.  We 
call in the name of Jordan that these people should be 
exposed in public and held accountable within and 
outside Parliament." 
 
-- "The keys to heaven and specious fatwas" 
 
Semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (06/11) 
editorializes: "We are really disappointed to see the 
Deputies of the Islamic Action Front deliberately and 
with premeditation go against the will of the people 
and the higher interest of their country.  Deputy 
Mohammad Abou Faris yesterday came out with his 
`revolutionary fatwa' to say that it is chaotic to 
describe the victims of the Amman explosions as 
martyrs.  With full confidence he presumed to judge 
that these innocent victims who did not commit any 
crime nor an act that angers God, deserve the death 
ordained upon them by the `great mujahid' Abu Mus'ab 
Al-Zarqawi. Where is Abu Faris and the Islamic Action 
Front taking us, disavowing the most basic human right 
that is upheld by Islam?  We did not expect to reach 
this level of callousness regarding the blood of the 
innocent, and we must not remain silent because what 
Abu Faris said does not come under freedom of 
expression.  Why does the Islamic Action Front remain 
silent, and why do we not hear any of his associates 
condemn such a statement?  It is high time that these 
people who defy the sentiments of their people, turn 
their back on the teachings of Islam, dispense keys to 
heaven, learned that specious teachings will not help 
them because the people of Jordan will not forget and 
will not forgive.  Your eminence, you have shed your 
mask." 
 
-- "Justifying terrorism" 
 
Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of 
centrist, independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad:  "The 
Islamic movement bears a great responsibility in 
standing up to the Takfiri groups that defame values 
of Islam and to the terrorist practices that 
contradict Islam's teachings..  Yet, the movement has 
not so far risen to level of that undertaking.  On the 
contrary, some of its representatives adopt a 
political rhetoric that tries to justify the crimes of 
Takfiris and take the side of terrorists and the 
crimes they have committed against people and 
religion.  This is a stand that cannot be accepted 
from a movement that is supposed to represent 
rationality and moderation among the religion-based 
political movements.  It is not enough for the 
movement to say that an action, like that when three 
of its parliamentary representatives offered their 
condolences to the family of the leader of terrorism 
in Iraq Abu Musab Zarqawi, is an individual action 
that does not represent it.  The visit was offensive 
to the feelings of Jordanians and to the blood of 
martyrs who died in the terrorist operation for which 
Zarqawi declared responsibility so proudly..  The 
Islamic movement is required to declare a clear and 
categorical stand about terrorists and terrorism. 
There is no room for fooling around or silence about 
the instigation..  The least it can do is lift its 
sponsorship of them and declare clearly that it 
rejects their heresy, Zarqawi and his ideology of 
unjustifiable terror." 
 
-- "Zarqawi and employing the television image" 
 
Daily columnist Rakan Majali writes on the back-page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Ad-Dustour: 
"The Americans depended in their war on Iraq on 
symbolism through images..  Right in the first few 
weeks of the America's occupation of Iraq, we noticed 
that the American, international, and Arab media 
exaggerated the image of a person called Abu Musab 
Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda organization in Iraq, 
who became more famous than Bin Laden and who became 
the first symbol for igniting the violence in Iraq.. 
Zarqawi was a symbol for a stage that started since 
the beginning of the occupation of Iraq until his 
death three days ago.  No doubt his image was fattened 
and blown up so that the American victory would be 
worthwhile and the media employment of it would be 
effective, particularly in the American public 
opinion.  The closest thing to reality is that 
Zarqawi's role has finished.  More importantly, the 
game has entered a new stage, and we must wait to see 
what new television images will be employed." 
RUBINSTEIN