[aap1966]

Eight years after his death, claims emerge that "al Qaeda in Iraq" leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi received a helping hand on the way to paradise:

Initially, the Pentagon claimed Zarqawi was killed outright after two bombs were dropped on the building in Baqubah, north of Baghdad, where he was hiding …

The Pentagon later stated Zarqawi had been wounded and survived for an hour before succumbing to his injuries.

Now a third version has emerged: in an account posted on the respected Special Operations Forces Situation Report website, it has been claimed that Zarqawi was killed in cold blood as he lay grievously wounded.

The account was purportedly written by a member of the 75th Ranger regiment that had worked with Delta Force operators to identify the building.

“With a gloved hand, the commando grabbed the side of Zarqawi’s head and slammed it against the inside of the ambulance, again and again, until the number-one terrorist leader of Iraq was dead,” wrote the ranger, who uses the pseudonym “Utlendr”.

“No call was made over the radio to the joint operations centre in nearby Balad air base” because it “would likely be better to ask for forgiveness than for permission”.