The purported leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq was believed killed in a battle between insurgents north of Baghdad, Iraqi security ministers said today, but an al-Qaeda-linked group denied the reports.
The United States ambassador to Iraq and the US military said they could not confirm Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said "primary information" showed Masri was dead, telling a news conference that details would soon be released to the media.
Abu Ayyub al-Masri also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
"Some good news was received about the killing of Abu Ayyub al-Masri ... The reliability of this information is high," Mr Bolani said alongside Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim, who also said Masri was believed killed.
Asked again to confirm Masri was dead, Bolani said: "If he has not been killed today, he will be killed tomorrow."
The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq denied that Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, had been killed.
"The Islamic State in Iraq assures the Islamic nation about the safety of Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, may God save him, and that he is still fighting the enemies," said the group in a statement posted on a website used by militants.
Iraqi officials have given conflicting accounts of whether Masri was purportedly killed today or yesterday in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad. They said his body had not been recovered.
There has been growing friction between Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups over al-Qaeda's indiscriminate killing of civilians and its imposition of an austere brand of Islam in the areas where it holds sway.
If he was killed by insurgents, that would signal a deepening split at a time when the Shia-led government is trying to woo some insurgent groups into the political process.
The US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said he could not confirm Masri's demise. He said while Masri's death would be "positive", it would not end al-Qaeda's violence in Iraq.
"Clearly, taking a major terrorist off the battlefield is an important thing," Mr Crocker told Washington-based reporters in a video-conference call from Baghdad.
"That said, I would not expect it to in any way bring to an end al Qaeda's activities in Iraq," said Mr Crocker, adding al-Qaeda had quickly adjusted to the death of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a US airstrike in June 2006. Masri, believed to be an Egyptian, then took over.