Iraq probes reports of al-Masri's death
US and Iraqi officials chased reports Tuesday that the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed by rivals north of Baghdad. But US authorities urged caution and warned that even if the claim were true, the death of the shadowy Abu Ayyub al-Masri would likely not spell the end of the terror movement in Iraq.
Reports of al-Masri's death first emerged from the Interior Ministry, which said the al-Qaida leader was gunned down by rivals in his movement Tuesday at a bridge near Lake Tharthar just north of Baghdad, where the US military believes al-Qaeda operates training camps.
Later, however, ministry spokesman Brig Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf said al-Masri's death had not been confirmed. Another senior official, Maj Gen Hussein Kamal, told The Associated Press that "we are trying to investigate and confirm the report."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Other Iraqi officials said word of the purported death came from an informant and that efforts were under way to retrieve the body. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is sensitive.
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