Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader denies arrest in voice recording

May 12, 2009, 19:05 GMT

Baghdad - A man claiming to be Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of an Islamic State in Iraq, refuted claims that he has been captured in a message allegedly released by the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked group on Tuesday.

Last month, the Iraqi government announced that investigations had confirmed that a man Iraqi police had arrested in Baghdad was the shadowy leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq.

'Everyone was shocked by the lie ... in which they claim again that they have arrested me,' said the voice recording on a broadcast by the al-Jazeera news channel.

Iraqi police have confirmed that a man they detained last week is the mysterious 'emir' of an umbrella group including al-Qaeda in Iraq, an Iraqi security spokesman said Tuesday.

'We do not know in the first place the person whose picture was shown on the Iraqi TV,' said the tape, adding that 'the leader of the faithful, Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi ... is well.'

In March and May 2007, respectively, Iraqi police said that al- Baghdadi had been arrested and killed.

After those reports turned out to be false, US Brigadier General Kevin Bergner in July 2007 told reporters that the US military believed al-Baghdadi was a myth created 'to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq.'