The al-Qaida group in Iraq said on Sunday that it had killed an abducted US pilot.

"Your brothers in Al-Qaida in the Land of Two Rivers seized a US pilot who took part in bombarding several mosques and the Sheraton hotel in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq and also several civilian homes," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.

"After interrogating this infidel, the divine verdict was imposed on him," it added.

The statement was accompanied by pictures of a driving licence identifying the victim as Neenus Khoshaba. However, the authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

The al-Qaida group in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born Abu Musad al- Zarqawi, has claimed a string of most violent and gruesome attacks against the US and Iraqi forces.

Source: Xinhua