Zarqawi Claims Show Power Play?

Race Heats Up For Al Qaeda Top Iraq Job Amid Zarqawi Speculation

(CBS/AP)  Speculation about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's fate and conflicting claims Thursday over who is running al Qaeda in Iraq suggest confusion or perhaps even a power struggle within Iraq's most lethal terror group.

Who could replace the Jordanian-born militant at the head of the group responsible for multiple bombings, beheadings and assassinations in Iraq is becoming as hot a topic as whether the feared terrorist is actually alive or dead.

Speculation over the group's future leadership has soared since Tuesday's Internet "announcement" in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq's media coordinator, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, that al-Zarqawi had been wounded and that Muslims should pray for him.

But one scenario being tossed about, reports CBS News Correspondent David Martin, is that al-Zarqawi is being pushed aside in an internal terrorist group power struggle. But the Pentagon officials are not ruling out the possibility that he is actually injured.

Any number of firefights between insurgents and American forces could have injured Zarqawi, Martin reports. The last time U.S. forces had Zarqawi in their sights and knew it was in February when troops were pursuing his pickup truck while a spy drone tracked him from overhead.

But a wound to the leader — or even death — might not cause such leadership mayhem for the terrorist group as some are speculating.

"While Zarqawi is an important character, his organization is bigger than just one guy," said Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham.

Another web statement Thursday said a Saudi Arabian militant, known as Abu Hafs al-Gerni, had been made the group's interim leader — or "deputy of the holy warriors" — until al-Zarqawi recovered from his wounds.

It said al-Gerni "was known for carrying out the hardest operations, and our sheik would choose him and his group for the tough operations."

That statement was signed in the name of Abu Doujanah al-Tunisi of al Qaeda in Iraq's media committee — an unfamiliar name from past statements.

Shortly after, a rival statement appeared on the same Internet site again in Abu Maysara al-Iraqi's name to reject suggestions that a replacement had been named for al-Zarqawi.

None of the claims could be authenticated, but the continuing flurry of Internet statements and public comments over al-Zarqawi's fate and al Qaeda's future is lending weight to suspicions that change is in the offing in the leadership of Iraq's rampant insurgency.

On Thursday afternoon, U.S. officials couldn't confirm reports of Zarqawi's death or wounding. However, one U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the military's most credible sources lean toward the idea that Zarqawi is injured or wounded, not dead.

The respected pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat reported Thursday that several candidates were gearing up to claim al-Zarqawi's throne, none of whom were identified as al-Gerni. One candidate the paper did name was Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the man who was quick to rule out al-Gerni's appointment.