Iraq Qaeda-led group said leader alive
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.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.
Brown eyes £3 billion savings
The government will slash consultancy and marketing costs to help halve the budget deficit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says. Full Article
Indian models dare to bare