US arrest of top militant denied

CAIRO: An Al-Qaida umbrella group in Iraq denied in a statement posted yesterday on a militant website that US troops had captured the highest ranking Iraqi in the leadership of Al-Qaida in Iraq.

Last week, the US command announced the arrest of Khaled al-Mashhadani, describing him as someone who had served as the link between Al-Qaida's command in Iraq and Osama bin Laden's inner circle.

Al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured on July 4 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the US military said. He is allegedly a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of Al-Qaida in Iraq.