WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Thursday that the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is "a severe blow" to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

"Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again," Bush said in the Rose Garden. Americans "can be justly proud" of U.S. fighting men and women, the president said, who also cautioned: "the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues."

Bush learned of the killing Wednesday afternoon from national security adviser Stephen Hadley, who had received a phone call from Baghdad shortly before 4 p.m. EST.

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