Iraq's al Qaeda said on Friday its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was in good health and was back leading operations in Iraq after being wounded, according to a statement posted on the Internet.

"Our Sheikh is in good health and is running the jihad (holy war) himself and has been overseeing the details of operations up to the time this statement was prepared," a group spokesman said in a posting issued on Islamist Web sites.

Conflicting statements about the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq had appeared on the Internet recently after the militant group announced on Tuesday that Zarqawi had been wounded.

Al Qaeda said in its latest statement that there were no problems within the network, one of the leaders of an insurgency against US forces and the Iraqi government.

"Our Sheikh has over the past two years established a cohesive leadership and has a deputy and advisers," it said. "Al Qaeda Organization in Iraq is well and cohesive."

On Thursday, an Internet statement in the name of al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq said the group had named a deputy to fill in for Zarqawi, but a later statement attributed to the group spokesman swiftly denied it.

Iraq's interior minister said on Thursday he had confirmation Zarqawi had been wounded, but the country's prime minister later said there was no firm news.

Washington has offered a $25 million bounty for Zarqawi, its top foe in Iraq.

Al Qaeda said on Tuesday Zarqawi was wounded "in the path of God" but did not say how, when or where. It urged Muslims to pray for his recovery and vowed to step up its attacks against US forces and the Iraqi government.

Iraq's government said on Thursday it would pour tens of thousands of Iraqi troops into Baghdad in an unprecedented operation to seal off the city and hunt insurgents.

A separate al Qaeda statement posted on Islamist Web sites on Friday said the operation was a "plot" against Sunni Muslims launched by the Shi'ite led government because it was failing against the insurgency.

"In order for Sunnis not to be fooled by this plot, we tell them that they (Shi'ites) are trying to harm the Sunnis, but they will be disappointed," the al Qaeda statement said.

"The soldiers of God and the Sunnis will be victorious."

A rise in suicide bombings and ambushes by mostly Sunni Arab guerrillas has killed more than 600 Iraqis in the last four weeks and raised fears Iraq could slide toward civil war if the government does not deliver on pledges of stability.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies May 28, 2005)