World leaders and terrorism experts described the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a blow to al-Qaida, but warned that his network of lieutenants would step up to carry on his campaign of death and destruction in Iraq.

The terror leader's death in an air strike in Iraq brought relief, tempered by caution, over the legacy of the Jordanian who forged an insurgency by force of his personality.

Both US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair softened their remarks of satisfaction with stern warnings that the global fight against terror was far from over.

Zarqawi's killing gives Bush a desperately needed success in Iraq and he quickly reacted to it in the White House Rose Garden.

Bush said the death Zarqawi "is a severe blow to al-Qaida," a victory in the war on terrorism, "and it is an opportunity for Iraq's new government to turn the tide in this struggle."

"We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people. Yet the developments of the last 24 hours give us renewed confidence in the final outcome of this struggle, the defeat of terrorism threats and a more peaceful world for our children and grandchildren," he said.

Bush said he will discuss with US and Iraqi officials next Tuesday how best to deploy US resources in Iraq after Zarqawi's death. Whether this was a hint of possible reductions in US troops in Iraq was unclear.

Blair called Zarqawi a "vicious prosecutor" of democracy and said that while his death was a victory, obstacles remained in the global fight against terror.

Military analyst Mustafa Alani, an Iraqi with the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, cautioned that al-Qaida in Iraq, with a few hundred members, would probably survive the loss of al-Zarqawi and a few of his lieutenants.

"We shouldn't exaggerate the value of this strike. No doubt it is a moral victory and will affect the group's strength and operations in Iraq," Alani said. "But these organizations always prepare for the day their leaders are killed or arrested. They always have a replacement."

Al-Zarqawi's death was felt deeply by those who knew them and who were affected by his actions.

Paul Bigley the brother of Briton Kenneth Bigley, who was kidnapped September 16, 2004, and beheaded said he hoped that al-Zarqawi would "rot in hell."

"My initial thoughts are that the world has rid itself of a very evil person if a person at all. He's a specimen, that's what he is," Bigley told the Associated Press. "I hope they catch the others ASAP."

In Jordan, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's older brother said that the family had anticipated the death of the notorious al-Qaida in Iraq leader for some time. "We expected that he would be martyred," Sayel al-Khalayleh said in a telephone interview. "We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven," he added.

In Zarqa, al-Zarqawi's three sisters, all dressed in black, arrived at the one-story family home looking grief stricken. The husband of one of the women, who identified himself as Abu Qudama, said: "We're not sad that he's dead." "To the contrary, we're happy because he's a martyr and he's now in heaven," he said.

Source: China Daily