Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Killed

When Harry Reid was reached for comment he said "We must STOP the slaughter!""

BAGHDAD, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed the head of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-led militant group that has claimed many major attacks in the country, Iraq's deputy interior minister said on Thursday.

Hussein Kamal said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed in a battle north of Baghdad. He declined to say when but said authorities had recovered Baghdadi's body.

"Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed north of Baghdad by Iraqi and American forces. He died as a result of wounds sustained in clashes. The Interior Ministry has his body to carry out further checks," Kamal told Reuters by telephone.

Update: Body said to be Iraqi Qaeda leader shown on TV

Update II: US and Iraqi forces have killed a senior al-Qaeda leader believed to have been behind the kidnapping of the American journalist Jill Carroll and the murder of an American peace activist.

There was a swirl of confusion surrounding the killing of Muhared Adbul Latif al-Jebouri in an ultra-violent area of Baghdad, with Iraqi officials initially identifying him as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, a coalition of extremist Sunni militant groups that has declared a Caliphate in the lawless areas north of Baghdad.