(Iraqi) Police deny having information about (al Qaeda chief) al-Masry's injuries

[sabra]

http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=37448&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Police deny having information about al-Masry's injuries

Balad, Feb 16, (VOI) – The Balad police forces did not receive any bodies of people wanted by security authorities nor any information about the killing or injury of al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Ayoub al-Masry, an Iraqi police source in Balad, a district 60 km north of Baghdad, said.

"We have no information about Abu Ayoub al-Masry in the district of Balad, which is now witnessing U.S. military operations confined to the district of al-Dalouiya," the source, a senior Iraqi police officer in Balad, the province of Salah al-Din, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Friday.

Iraqi and foreign mass media had quoted Brig. Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, a spokesman for the Iraqi interior ministry, as saying that al-Masry was wounded in clashes on Thursday night with Iraqi police forces near the district of Balad.

...

Dr. Faez al-Baladawi of the Balad public hospital said no unidentified body was received during the past few days.
"If there is a body of an important person, perhaps the U.S. side is keeping it at its base to conduct DNA tests to make sure about its identity," Baladawi told VOI.
AE

more:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/16/iraq/main2484764.shtml

Confusion Over Fate Of Iraq Al Qaeda Chief
Spokesman Casts Doubt Over Whether He Was Wounded; Security Push, Bombs Continue In

(CBS/AP) Conflicting reports emerged Friday on whether al Qaeda's leader in Iraq was wounded in a gunbattle, as U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper into Sunni militant strongholds in Baghdad — where cars rigged with explosives greeted their advance.

A spokesman said Friday the U.S. military has no indication that the al Qaeda in Iraq leader was killed or wounded in a raid north of Baghdad, while an Iraqi army officer said his deputy has been jailed south of Baghdad for a week.

Earlier, a spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry said the terror leader had been wounded and that an aide was killed.

Chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan says the ministry told CBS News that Iraqi police got into a firefight late Thursday night in a town north of Baghdad. Just outside this town, they believe al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri was wounded and a top aid killed, but they provided no evidence and they wouldn't say if he's in Iraqi custody or not.

The deputy interior minister says he has no information about such a clash.

[Eugene]

1. AP: U.S. Says No Sign Al-Masri Killed, Hurt

U.S. Says No Sign Al-Masri Killed, Hurt


Friday February 16, 2007 1:31 PM

AP Photo NYOL303

By KIM GAMEL

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A spokesman said Friday the U.S. military has no indication
that the al-Qaida in Iraq leader was killed or wounded in a raid, while an Iraqi
army officer said his deputy has been jailed for a week.

-snip-

But spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said the U.S. military had no information
to corroborate the account.

“We do not believe that he was either killed or wounded last night,” Garver said.

An Iraqi army officer also said al-Masri's aide, identified as Abu Abdullah al-
Majemaai, had been detained on Feb. 9 and remained in custody near Mahmoudiya,
about 20 miles south of Baghdad.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6420058,00.html

There have been conflicting reports (mostly denials) all morning.