In the Mideast, Not Sure What to Think

Yakan said he would not put Zarqawi in the category of Osama bin Laden, whom he admires, and pointedly declined to describe him as a martyr. In fact, he and others said they thought Zarqawi's death might actually improve the image of the insurgency. With Zarqawi and his incitements toward a civil war gone, they said, the insurgency could return its focus to the U.S. occupation.

"Now they can prove the resistance is not Zarqawi's resistance," Shaaban said.

Some analysts predicted that in an ensuing power struggle, more-radical elements might win out; to claim leadership, they said, there could be a tendency toward even more ruthlessness and violence.

That Zarqawi was still hailed in some parts of the region was a vivid illustration of the depth of resentment toward the United States and the way the war in Iraq has joined the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a provocation.

The radical Islamic group Hamas, which won control of the Palestinian parliament in January, deplored the U.S. airstrike that killed Zarqawi and praised him as a martyr. "With hearts full of faith, Hamas commends brother-fighter Abu Musab . . . who was martyred at the hands of the savage crusade campaign which targets the Arab homeland, starting in Iraq," the statement said.

"People don't like Zarqawi, but they hate America," said Abdul-Min'im Mustapha, Egypt bureau chief for the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. "They are upset about the death of Zarqawi because they think it's a victory for America."

Radical Islamic Web sites marked his death; even there, though, the ambiguity of his reputation sometimes emerged. "You might disagree with me on some of the paths taken by Zarqawi, but you have to agree he gave the worshipers of the cross and apostates a taste of torture and set the earth under their feet on fire," wrote one person who identified himself as Dari on the al-Sahat Web site. "This hero was one of those useful to God on the battlefield."

At a street corner in Tripoli, three men sipped coffee next to a vegetable stand. From a stall came the sound of al-Jazeera television's round-the-clock coverage of Zarqawi's death. One of the men jumped up when asked about his fate.

"We are so angry!" 45-year-old Mohammed Deeb shouted.

"All of us are Zarqawi," his friend Abdel-Fattah Khazna interrupted. "God kill those who killed him."

At about that time, an argument erupted on al-Jazeera itself. One of its guests, Hassan Salman, a Beirut-based Iraqi analyst, accused al-Jazeera of organizing what amounted to condolences for Zarqawi. When the anchor, Jamil Azer, said all parties were being interviewed, including Americans, Salman retorted: "We're not Americans, we are the Iraqi people and today is a wedding day for us. This man was a nightmare to all of us, and especially to the Sunnis."

Special correspondents Faiza Saleh Ambah in Jiddah and Alia Ibrahim in Beirut contributed to this report.