Abu Ayyub al-Masri AP PHOTO

Masri, who is allegedly also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, is an Egyptian car bomb specialist who heads Al-Qaida's Iraq subsidiary.

"There is intelligence information. Some information, you know, needs confirmation, but this information is very strong," interior ministry operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said.

Two months ago there were reports in the Iraqi media that Masri had been wounded in a shootout with Iraqi soldiers, but these later proved false.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 5, 2007
(C) All rights reserved