Iraqi Government Announces Crackdown

Iraq's Shia-led government today announced its biggest crackdown so far on the insurgency as speculation grew over the fate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the main militant leader.

Bayan Jabor, the Iraqi interior minister, said he had information that the 38-year-old Jordanian was wounded and the seriousness of the injuries came into question when a militant website said Zarqawi's group had appointed a deputy to take over his duties.

It has recently been rumoured that Zarqawi suffered a bullet wound to the chest in fighting and is either receiving medical care outside Iraq or dead.

"The leaders met after the injury of our sheik, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and decided to appoint a deputy to take the lead until the return of our sheik," said the internet statement, signed in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq.

The statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, was soon contradicted by a second denying its claims. Mr Jabor said he was not sure how serious Zarqawi's wounds were. "We are not sure whether he is dead or not, but we are sure that he is injured," he told reporters.

Announcing the crackdown on militants - dubbed Operation Thunder - Mr Jabor told a press conference the Iraqi government would now go on the "offensive" against insurgents.

More than 600 Iraqis have died in a month-long spree of suicide bombings and ambushes.

The government operation will see 40,000 Iraqi troops deployed in Baghdad in addition to the estimated 10,000 US troops in the capital. "These operations will aim to turn the government's role from defensive to offensive," Mr Jabor said.

The Iraqi defence minister, Sadoun al-Dulaimi, said troops would be drawn from interior and defence ministry forces and would begin operating in the capital. The city would be divided into sections with a unit responsible for each.

"We will also impose a stringent blockade around Baghdad, like a bracelet around an arm, God willing, and God be with us in our crackdown on the terrorists' infrastructure. No one will be able to penetrate this blockade," he said.

The announcement of the Baghdad deployment comes as the US fights insurgents close to the Syrian border in western Iraq. It was in one of these offensives that Zarqawi is thought to have been injured.

An Iraqi doctor claims he treated the militant leader earlier this month for gunshot wounds sustained in fighting near al-Qaim, 100 miles north of the western city of Ramadi.

He told an Iraqi reporter that Zarqawi, who he recognised from photographs, was driven off by his henchmen after he told them he would need to keep him in hospital for further observation.

"He was bleeding heavily and his escorts were well dressed with a look about them that was different from the casualties and family members we had been receiving from the al-Qaim offensive," he was quoted as saying.

Zarqawi, 38, has been linked to the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003 and is thought to be responsible for the kidnapping of western workers including Ken Bigley, the engineer from Liverpool. Reports since Bigley's death last October suggest Zarqawi may have personally beheaded the 62-year-old.

The first of the two statements from the militant websites today named Abu Hafs al-Gerni as the "deputy of the holy warriors", saying he "was known for carrying out the hardest operations".

The Associated Press, speaking to experts on Middle Eastern militant groups, said Gerni is a Saudi who has served as Zarqawi's military adviser and is a senior commander of the military committee of al-Qaida in Iraq.

An aide to Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said it was not certain that the appointment of Zarqawi's deputy meant he was dead. "We are not sure 100% that al-Zarqawi is dead and we can't consider this step as a confirmation for his killing," he said.

Since the first reports of Zarqawi's injury emerged, militant websites have asked followers to pray for the US's number one target in Iraq. The latest statement urged more of the same, saying: "We will go on in our way of jihad until victory or martyrdom and we call upon Muslims to pray for the mojahedin and for the safety of our sheik."