The Iraqi government and the U.S. military is probing media reports on the death of Abu Ayyub al- Masri, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, as they can't confirm the reports.

Iraqi state-run television quoted Brigadier General Abdul Karim Khalaf, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, as saying that "news said that Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed in Nibaie area in Taji."

"Definite intelligence reports said that disputes among the al- Qaida groups developed to internal clashes which resulted in the killing of Abu Ayyub al-Masri," Khalaf told al-Iraqiya.

"We have very strong evidences that he (al-Masri) was killed, but still we need more investigations," he said.

Nibaie, some 50 km north of Baghdad, is part of Taji area which is the hotbed of insurgency, including the al-Qaida militants.

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani and Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim also told the media that al-Masri was believed to be killed according to "high reliable intelligence."

However, some Iraqi officials said the body of al-Masri had not been found and the authorities need more investigations before the final confirmation of al-Masri's death.

The U.S. military also said it could not confirm Abu Ayyub al- Masri had been killed.

Furthermore, an al-Qaida-linked group Tuesday posted a statement on a website, denying the death of al-Masri. The self- styled Islamic State in Iraq said it can assure the safety of al- Masri and "he is still fighting the enemies."

Al-Masri, an Egyptian who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, became the leader of al-Qaida network in Iraq after U.S. troops killed the former chief of the organization Abu Musam al-Zarqawi in June, 2006.

Al-Masri was reportedly killed in a U.S. raid in December and badly wounded in February, but both of the reports were proven to be inaccurate later.

Al-Qaida militants are accused of trying to fan the sectarian conflicts between majority Shiites and minority Sunnis in Iraq with a series of deadly attacks, including the bombing of the golden-domed shrine in Samara in February, 2006.

Analysts said even if the report was true, al-Masri's death can hardly paralyze the al-Qaida network in Iraq and since the death of al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida has launched numerous attacks across Iraq, showing strong capabilities of regenerating.

Some pointed out that the most encouraging thing in the report was not al-Masri's death, but how he was killed.

If al-Masri was really killed in an internal fighting, it would definitely signal a deepening split between al-Qaida and other Sunni Arab militants.

Some Sunni insurgents in Iraq are reportedly angered by al- Qaida's large-scale attacks against Iraqi population.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, Sunni tribes, once said to show sympathy to al-Qaida militants, have formed a coalition to fight against them.

Source: Xinhua