The two leading al-Qaeda figures in Iraq were killed in a major operation involving US forces north of the capital, Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on state television.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri were killed on Saturday in the Salaheddin province by Iraqi intelligence agents who received US assistance, Maliki said, showing pictures of both men before and after their deaths.
The Baghdad government has announced the capture and killing of Baghdadi on several occasions and his real influence in al-Qaeda has been called into question by the US military.
Maliki told reporters that Baghdadi and Masri's identities had been confirmed by medical tests.
Iraqi authorities said in April last year that they had captured Baghdadi, identified as one of the top leaders of the local wing of al-Qaeda, which is blamed for a wave of violence across the nation.
But the Islamic State of Iraq, the al-Qaeda front in the country, denied the claim and said Baghdadi was "fine", Site Intelligence Group said, citing a statement released on Islamist forums on May 11 2009.
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