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Al-Zarqawi still leading the fight in Iraq: website
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=3138

DUBAI, March 7 (AFP) - The most wanted man in Iraq, Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is in good health and leading operations, his group said in a statement Monday, as Iraqi and US troops stepped up efforts to find him.

"Our sheikh Abu Musab, may God watch over him, is in good health. He is preparing for battles and is leading the fight in Iraq," read a statement from the Organization of Al-Qaeda of Jihad published on an Islamist website.

The authenticity of the message could not immediately be verified.

"You will soon hear a speech from our sheikh," it said.

Since Saturday, commandos from Iraq's interior ministry and US troops have closed off entrances to Samarra and launched raids in the city and surrounding areas in search for suspects that might lead them to Zarqawi.

The Iraqi government on Monday released new pictures of the militant, who has a 25 million bounty on his head and is blamed for the worst bombings in Iraq, showing him bearded and in conversation with an individual.

The Organisation of Al-Qaeda of Jihad statement said the pictures had been in the possession of an Al-Qaeda information section worker who was killed in combat.

"Our brother died as a martyr and the pictures fell into the hands of the infidels," it said.