New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he hopes the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq would send a message to others that Americans will not be cowed by terrorists.

"I don't think you should worry about 'Are you safer today than you were yesterday or are you more in danger?'" said Bloomberg.

"The world probably is better off without this person but there are plenty of other people that we have to bring to justice," he said, calling the killing of Zarqawi "one step in the fight against terrorism."

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly reiterated that New York City has remained on high alert since Sept. 11, 2001.

"We have no specific information about any increased threat as a result of the demise of al-Zarqawi," said Kelly, who appeared at a Staten Island event with Bloomberg.

Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air raid there, the culmination of a two-week-long hunt for him, Iraqi and U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The Jordanian, who masterminded hundreds of suicide bombings in Iraq and was blamed for the videotaped beheadings of foreign hostages, had come to symbolize the radical Islamic insurgency against U.S.-led forces occupying Iraq.

Source: Xinhua