Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht welcomed on Thursday the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq.

"The man is personally responsible for countless attacks, kidnappings and murders in Iraq and elsewhere," De Gucht said.

"In my eyes, this is an important victory in the fight against terrorism, which of course is not finished," he said.

The minister also spoke of the importance of the stabilization of Iraq in restoring the safety and prosperity of the population to a normal level.

"The Iraqi population may be pleased over the disappearance of this terrorist leader," he said.

Al-Zarqawi was reportedly killed on Wednesday night by a US air strike in an area northeast of Baghdad.

With a 25 million US dollar bounty on his head, Zarqawi is believed to be the top leader of the al-Qaida terror group in Iraq. He is accused of being behind some of the most gruesome kidnappings and killings in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua