U.S. Can’t Confirm Al-Qaida Death Report

The U.S. military has not been able to confirm a report that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the top official of al-Qaida in Iraq, is dead, officials said Wednesday.

Iraqi tribal groups had said Tuesday that al-Masri was killed during a fight with Sunni militants.

At this point I haven’t seen any reports that say we have any bodies or that we have taken custody or that we had any direct participation in that, said Rear Adm. Mark Fox of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.

Iraqi authorities said they also were unable to confirm the report.

Meanwhile, officials in Baghdad imposed new regulation Wednesday that would limit vehicles’ travel across the city’s bridges.

CNN said the travel restrictions come in the wake of a recent series of bombing attacks that have targeted bridges in the Iraqi capital.