Bush said he will meet his key members of his Cabinet and national security team at Camp David on Monday, then on Tuesday Iraq's new ambassador to the United States will join in a teleconference discussion with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and members of his Cabinet. Bush said he spoke to Maliki on Thursday morning.

"Together we will discuss how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq, and achieve our shared goal of an Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself and sustain itself," Bush said.

Bush said U.S. special operations forces confirmed Zarqawi's location based on intelligence from Iraqis and "delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq."

Bush was informed by national security adviser Stephen Hadley at 4:35 p.m. (2035 GMT) on Wednesday in the Oval Office that it was believed Zarqawi was dead, and Bush replied, "That would be a good thing," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

At 9:10 p.m. (0110 GMT Thursday), Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Hadley and told him that markings on the body and fingerprints matched those of Zarqawi, Snow said. It will probably be another day before DNA evidence comes back, he said.

"Special Forces had been tracking him and people close to him, and they had very good reason to believe, because of some of the traffic in and out of the building, that Zarqawi was there," Snow said.