War On Terror: The Apostle Of Hate

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In the final months of his life, al-Zarqawi sought a different kind of legitimacy. In exclusive interviews with TIME, fighters from his inner circle said that al-Zarqawi wanted to be seen, like bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, as a religious authority as well as a military commander. He may also have been trying to project a more moderate image, mindful of the revulsion induced by his barbarism toward fellow Muslims. One jihadist contact says al-Zarqawi had a growing sense that he couldn't trust those around him. He took to mimicking the habits of the Prophet Muhammad recorded in Muslim texts, including the way he brushed his teeth and wore his sandals. Lacking formal religious training, he prayed incessantly and consulted frequently with religious advisers--attempts, perhaps, to shed his murderous past and reinvent himself as a savior of Islam. But he never got the chance. U.S. forces bore in on al-Zarqawi by tracking his spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul-Rahman, a man the terrorist may have hoped would help guide him toward a new life. The U.S., and death, found him instead.