Iraq:The US military and the Iraqi government were seeking yesterday to establish whether the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed in a shoot-out in Anbar province.
A Pentagon spokesman said it was cautious about the reports because previous claims had proved inaccurate. Last year the US identified Masri as the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al- Qaeda's leader in Iraq, who was killed in June. The US has a reward of $5 million (€3.7 million) for information leading to Masri.
Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government's spokesman, said the reports were based on intelligence. "DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body . . . We will make an official announcement when we confirm that this person is Abu Ayyub al-Masri."
An Iraqi insurgent group denied he was dead. In a statement on the internet, the Islamic State of Iraq said Masri "is alive and he is still fighting the enemy of God".
There were conflicting accounts of how he allegedly died, with one saying he had been killed by Sunni tribal leaders who had turned against al-Qaeda. If that is true, it would be a major breakthrough for US forces and the Iraqi government.
Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq, said: "If this did happen . . . it would be a significant and positive development. That said, I would not expect it to in any way bring to end al-Qaeda's activities in Iraq."
The US believes Masri is the nom de guerre of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (40), who joined Egypt's Islamic Jihad in 1982. It was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became Osama bin Laden's deputy. The Pentagon says Masri went to Afghanistan in 1999 and to Iraq after the 2003 invasion.
Reports of his death came as the US Congress was set to send its war funding Bill, which includes a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, to President George Bush, who said he would veto it. Congress sent the Bill on the anniversary of Mr Bush's speech on an aircraft carrier in 2003 in which he declared hostilities to be over.
- (Guardian service)