Iraq Qaeda-led group said leader alive

Thu May 3, 2007 6:10pm BST

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DUBAI (Reuters) - The self-styled al Qaeda-led Islamic State in Iraq denied on Thursday that its leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed, but said its spokesman was "martyred" in a clash with the "enemies of God".

"We assure the nation that our leader ... Abu Omar al-Baghdadi may God save him is basking in the blessings of God among his kin at the Islamic State in Iraq," it said in a statement posted on an Web site used by insurgent groups.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said earlier that Baghdadi, the leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, a militant al Qaeda-led group, had been killed north of Baghdad.

The group said the person killed was its spokesman.

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