It would appear that the info about al-zarqawi is a rumor. See below.... I rate Evan Kohlmann and by the way, this site is a great source.
http://counterterror.typepad.com/
November 20, 2005
Al-Qaida Takes Casualties in Iraq -- But Apparently Not Zarqawi
Despite recent reports to the contrary, Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq has suffered numerous casualties during recent combat operations in northern and western Iraq -- including both native and foreign fighters. As I hinted at in my previous post on Iraq's foreign fighters, at least four commanders from the designated foreign terrorist organization Asbat al-Ansar in southern Lebanon have been killed during intense fighting near the western towns of Al-Qaim and Al-Karabilah. Another Yemeni national -- a veteran of multiple trips to Afghanistan -- was also slain before he could participate in an intended suicide bombing mission.
Other, highly dubious reports have also surfaced in the media today suggesting that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been himself killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul during a U.S. military raid on a suspected Al-Qaida hideout. Needless to say, such "tips" are often posted on fringe Arabic-language message forums on the Internet and are subsequently picked up by overeager news agencies -- but ultimately, most prove to be nothing more than unfounded rumor. Certainly, Al-Qaida doesn't seem to have been at all fazed by the reported Mosul raid. Not only has Al-Qaida issued nearly twenty new communiques in the last twenty four hours, but it also claimed credit for additional insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Mosul. Apparently, the raid that "might have killed" Zarqawi did not even succeed in decapitating Al-Qaida's military command structure in the Mosul area. This Zarqawi report ultimately will be proven or disproven by the only sure way possible: forensic evidence collected on scene. But, at least for the moment--given what we do know--it seems fair to classify Zarqawi's would-be passing as extremely unlikely.
See: (UPI) Reports of Zarqawi's death played down
UPDATE: I've fixed the broken link to the Asbat al-Ansar PDF file
Posted by Evan Kohlmann at 08:34 PM
Good Morning.
No, I fear that he is still alive, I have been listening to the news on the radio and it has gone from maybe he died to the fact that there is not much hope that he is injured and is not thought to be one that was in the house that was attacked.
Oh well, yours and our Military will be making another attempt.
The Military does not as a rule get the rewards for someone like him, but I am willing to bet that the unit has some type of betting pool, for who shoot him or when he will die.
I did hear one report that talked about if he had been killed, that it would make no difference in the war on terror, that there were enough leaders left to take his place and the attacks would continue.
Zarqawi, is one lucky (or smart) man.