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BAGHDAD - A senior member of "al Qaeda in Iraq'' believed responsible for the high-profile kidnappings of several westerners, including at least two Canadians, has been killed by U.S. forces in Iraq, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Maj.-Gen. William Caldwell said the death of Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri, described as al Qaeda's information minister, had apparently led to confused reports that "al Qaeda in Iraq's'' top leader or the head of an umbrella group of insurgents had been killed.

However, Caldwell said the U.S. does not have the bodies of either Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, or Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of "al Qaeda in Iraq,'' and doesn't know of "anybody that does.''

He said the military had conducted numerous operations against "al Qaeda in Iraq'' in the last six days.

Al-Jubouri was killed while trying to resist capture in an operation about 6� kilometres west of the Taji air base north of Baghdad early Tuesday.

The body was initially identified by photos, then confirmed by DNA testing Wednesday, he said.

Al-Jubouri was believed to have been deeply involved with the kidnapping of Jill Carroll, a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, who was released.

He was also believed involved in the abduction of American Tom Fox, one of four men from the Chicago-based group Christian Peacemaker Teams who was found fatally shot in Baghdad on March 10, 2006, he said.

The group included two Canadians, Harmeet Sooden, who lives in New Zealand, and James Loney, 41, of Toronto. They, along with a fourth Christian Peacemaker, Briton Norman Kember, 74, of London, were freed after 118 days of captivity.

Sooden said they were snatched off the streets of Baghdad for ransom to help fund the insurgency.

Al-Jubouri was also involved in the kidnapping of two Germans in January 2006, Caldwell said.

On Thursday, mourners gathered at al-Jubouri's house in Duluiyah, 70 kilometres north of Baghdad, as a huge funeral tent was being erected in the street, police said.

The Interior Ministry said earlier Thursday that al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq, had been killed and released photos of what it said was the body of the leader of the umbrella group, which includes al Qaeda.

But Caldwell said al-Baghdadi's death could not be confirmed.

"If that person even exists, again, we have nobody in our possession or know of anybody that does, alive or dead, that is going through any kind of testing or analysis at this point with respect to those two individuals,'' he said.

On Tuesday, officials reported that al-Masri, the head of "al Qaeda in Iraq,'' had been killed by rivals north of Baghdad, but the body had not been recovered.

Regarding al-Masri, Caldwell said "we in fact do not have in our possession nor do we know of anybody that has anybody or person at this time that we think is him.''

"His overall status whether he is dead or alive is actually unknown to us at this point,'' he added.