Senior al Qaeda leader killed in Iraq-ministry

BAGHDAD, May 3 (Reuters) US and Iraqi forces have killed the leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-led militant group, Iraq's deputy interior minister told Reuters on Thursday.

Hussein Kamal said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed in a battle north of Baghdad. He declined to say when, but said authorities had Baghdadi's body.

US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver declined to comment but said a news conference would be held later today to announce the ''success'' of an operation against al Qaeda.

He stressed that the topic would not be Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Iraqi officials had said Masri was killed in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad this week. The US military has been unable to confirm those reports.

Reuters SZ DS1350