BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq who waged a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and beheadings, was killed overnight by F-16 jets dropping two 500-pound bombs, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday. It was a long-sought victory in the war in Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi and seven aides, including spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul Rahman, were killed inside a building in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad, officials said.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell showed what he said was a picture of al-Zarqawi after he was killed, and a videotape of an attack in which he said F-16 fighter jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on the site.

"We had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Zarqawi was in the house," Caldwell said.

‘Painstaking intelligence effort’
The spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi intelligence found al-Zarqawi by following his spiritual adviser.

“Through a painstaking intelligence effort, we were able to start tracking him, monitor his movements and establish when he was doing his linkup with al-Zarqawi,” he said. “What everyone needs to understand is the strike last night did not occur in a 24-hour period.”

Caldwell also said U.S. and Iraqi troops carried out 17 raids around Baghdad following al-Zarqawi's killing.

“It truly was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human sources, electronics, signal intelligence that was done over a period of time, many, many weeks,” Caldwell said.

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had called a press conference to announce that “al-Zarqawi was terminated.”

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