LONDON - British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Thursday it was too early to say if Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death will mark a turning point in Iraq, but added that it "could be helpful."
Beckett, who echoed Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments that it was "an important day in Iraq", expressed caution about whether the death of the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq would help stablize the country.
"It's too early to say that it's a turning point, but certainly it could be helpful and I certainly hope that is the case," Beckett said on Sky News television.
Blair told his cabinet earlier that "today's announcement was very good news because any blow against Al-Qaeda in Iraq was a blow against Al-Qaeda everywhere," a spokesman in the prime minister's office said.
06/08/2006 09:36 GMT