US military questions claims about wounding al Qaeda leader

CNN:

The U.S. military on Friday cast doubt on a report from the Iraqi government that al Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Ayyub al-Masri was wounded in clashes with police.

A senior U.S. official, who requested anonymity, told CNN that the U.S. military believes reports about the alleged incident Thursday are false.

Despite the doubts, Iraq's Interior Ministry stood by its initial report that police wounded al-Masri -- who is the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf. (Watch how an Iraqi minister described the firefight Video)

Khalaf said Americans would not know about the details because only Iraqi police were involved. This was not a joint U.S.-Iraqi military engagement, Khalaf said.

Al-Masri is now on the run, he said.

These reports mark the second time in six months that questions surrounding al-Masri's status have surfaced. In October, the U.S. military reported the leader was dead, but later retracted the statement when it turned out to be false.

In addition to al-Masri's alleged injury, Khalaf said al-Masri's top aide, Abu Abdullah al-Majamiai, was killed in the clash. Iraqi police have custody of his body, Khalaf said.

The senior U.S. military official told CNN the United States has never heard of al-Majamiai, but added that does not mean he was not associated with al Qaeda in Iraq.

...
What is curious about this report is that earlier stories indicated that al Qaeda had confirmed that al-Majamiai was one of their guys who had been killed in the fire fight. As I noted last night, al-Iraqiyi TV had said al-Masri escaped. It is another strange episode in Iraq and it is very possible that the Iraqis reporting this are doing so in good faith. It is unlikely that al-Masri will call a news briefing to dispute the report.

AP is now reporting that al-Majamiai was not killed but was captured and is in jail. One thing is clear at this point and that is that Iraqi reports on this event are confused. Reuters is reporting that al Qaeda in Iraq is now denying that its leader was wounded.

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