I’m getting today’s First Cup post together, but wanted to comment on this news (h/t Viking Pundit).

The leader of al Qaeda in
Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed on Tuesday in an internal fight between insurgents, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report.

Spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told Reuters: “We have definite intelligence reports that al Masri was killed today.” He said the battle happened near a bridge in the small town of al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad.

Another source in the ministry said Masri had been killed in what he described as “probably score-settling within al Qaeda itself.”

Both Khalaf and the ministry source said the authorities did not have Masri’s body, but the source added “our people had seen the body.”

Not much more at this time, but I’ll continue to watch for additional news and blog reaction.