"The end of Al Zarqawi, chief of Al Qaeda in Iraq, is a hard and expected blow to international terrorism". The official reaction of the European Union to the news of the death of the leader with Jordanian origins was entrusted to the vice president of the EU Commission, Franco Frattini, as person in charge of the justice, security and freedom sector. According to the Italian Commissioner, "the criminal deeds of this terrorist chief and his army caused death and destruction in Iraq, in these years", and they "certainly inspired terrorist actions in other parts of the world, including Europe". Frattini added that "the cohesion of the international community and the unity of intents of Europe in this war against terrorism are the absolute priority in our agenda, now more than ever. The European work and commitment will go on intensifying more and more".
