BAGHDAD, 2 May 2007 — The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq was believed killed in a battle between insurgents north of Baghdad, Iraqi security ministers said yesterday, 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. “Some good news was received about the killing of Abu Ayyub Al-Masri...The reliability of this information is high,” Bolani said alongside Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Qader Jassim, who also said Masri was believed killed.
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…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 yesterday or Monday in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad. They said his body had not been recovered.
There has been growing friction between Al-Qaeda and Sunni Arab insurgent groups over Al-Qaeda’s indiscriminate killing of civilians and its imposition of its own brand of Islam in the areas where it holds sway.
