U.S. checking reports of Zarqawi capture

[Danzig]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military says it is checking unconfirmed reports that al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in Iraq.

The Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who Washington says is its number one enemy in Iraq, is accused of masterminding a string of suicide bombings and of the execution of an American and a South Korean hostage.

The reports suggested that Zarqawi had been captured near the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad and in the Polish military area of responsibility.

"We are working on that issue," a U.S. military official said on Monday.

A Polish spokesman added: "I cannot confirm that information... When the operation is ongoing at the moment I cannot make any comment."

Washington is offering $10 million (5.5 million pounds) for information leading to the death or capture of Zarqawi.

[Danzig]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military denied reports Monday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who Washington says is allied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, had been captured in Iraq.
"It's not true, the reports are not true," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the U.S. military in Iraq, told Reuters. "We've heard the reports about it, but they are not true."