US and Iraqi security forces may have come close to capturing Iraqi al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the past two weeks, Iraq's interior minister claimed today.
"We are following him," Interior Minister Falah al-Naquib told Pentagon reporters in a videoconference from Baghdad. "I think we missed him twice or three times, but hopefully next time we will be able to capture him.
"I think we arrived a bit late. Maybe we missed him by one hour. ... You know, he is not staying in one place. He is moving from one area to another. So, we will get him - very soon, hopefully," Mr Naquib added.
Rumors of Zarqawi's capture have surfaced in recent weeks, including reports a month ago that he had been apprehended in the insurgent stronghold of Baquba, north of Baghdad.
The minister declined to provide details of the latest raids, including where they occurred and whether they involved joint US-Iraqi operations.
But he said Zarqawi's support network had been weakened with the arrests of more than 350 "terrorists" in the three weeks before Sunday's election.
"We have weakened them very much and we are continuing to weaken them, and hopefully in a very short time nobody will hear about Zarqawi and his group," the interior minister said.