United States military sources in Iraq have denied reports that Iraqi security forces have detained the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Arabic television station al-Arabiya had earlier reported that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir had been arrested in a joint Iraqi-US operation in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Muhajir is the successor to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in June 2006.

Also known as Abu Ayyab al-Masri has a US reward of US$5 million on his head.

The confusion was apparently due to the fact that the detainee has the same name as the al-Qaeda leader.

The arrest would have been a major blow for al-Qaeda and other Sunni insurgents in Iraq.