This is the face of al Qaida lynch-pin Abu Musab al-Zarqawi whose reign of terror in Iraq was ended by a US air strike.

Al-Zarqawi was the man blamed for personally beheading British hostage Ken Bigley and the terror leader's death was hailed as a significant blow to the al Qaida network by Britain, US and Iraq.

The Bigley family welcomed the news and described al-Zarqawi as "a monster".

Ken Bigley's older brother Stan said he was glad he "was off the face of the Earth, not just for Ken but for all the people he has killed".

Photographs of the dead Jordanian-born terrorist were shown to the world, his face slightly bloated and bloodied.

Images of a house being destroyed by two 500lb US bombs were also shown to the media.

As news of his death spread, prime ministers and presidents around the world delivered their verdict.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "The death of al-Zarqawi is a strike against al Qaida in Iraq and therefore a strike against al Qaida everywhere."

But he warned that there were still "many, many obstacles" to overcome before Iraq could become a democracy.

President Bush described his death as a "severe blow to al Qaida and a victory for the global war on terror".

He said the strike was "delivering justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq".

Ken Bigley was 62 when he was kidnapped in September 2004 and held for three weeks before being murdered.

His captors released footage of him begging for mercy and his bloody execution.

Stan Bigley said: "Ken was just one of a multitude of innocent people killed by that man.

"He was a monster.

"Personally, I would rather have seen him captured and made to stand in the dock and face justice for what he's done.

"But I won't lose any sleep over him being dead. I'm not worried that he's gone."

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