UPDATE III:

This update comes from the Counterterrorism Blog and provides good news irregardless of whether Zarqawi was among the AQ recently killed in Iraq. It also has a major dousing of cold water in it.

Despite recent reports to the contrary, Al-Qaida’s Committee in Iraq has suffered numerous casualties during recent combat operations in northern and western Iraq — including both native and foreign fighters. As I hinted at in my previous post on Iraq’s foreign fighters, at least four commanders from the designated foreign terrorist organization Asbat al-Ansar in southern Lebanon have been killed during intense fighting near the western towns of Al-Qaim and Al-Karabilah. Another Yemeni national — a veteran of multiple trips to Afghanistan — was also slain before he could participate in an intended suicide bombing mission.

Other, highly dubious reports have also surfaced in the media today suggesting that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been himself killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul during a U.S. military raid on a suspected Al-Qaida hideout. Needless to say, such “tips” are often posted on fringe Arabic-language message forums on the Internet and are subsequently picked up by overeager news agencies — but ultimately, most prove to be nothing more than unfounded rumor. Certainly, Al-Qaida doesn’t seem to have been at all fazed by the reported Mosul raid. Not only has Al-Qaida issued nearly twenty new communiques in the last twenty four hours, but it also claimed credit for additional insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Mosul. Apparently, the raid that “might have killed” Zarqawi did not even succeed in decapitating Al-Qaida’s military command structure in the Mosul area.

UPDATE II:

Recent reports state the house where the insurgents were holed up is now closed off and being inspected. More importantly, it is now clear Zarqawi was turned in by a tip.

U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight, some by their own hand to avoid capture. A U.S. official said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.
…
On Saturday, police Brig.-Gen. Said Ahmed al-Jubouri said the raid was launched after a tip that top al-Qaida operatives, possibly including al-Zarqawi, were in the house in the northeastern part of the city.

During the intense gunbattle that followed, three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said.

Looks like our speculation below (as well as here) was true. When Zarqawi’s family shunned him, it became open season for the reward money.

Reuters is throwing a bit of cold water on the possibility.

U.S. authorities are looking into whether al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a U.S. official said on Sunday, but a White House spokesman said that was “highly unlikely.”

There is no mistake that Zarqawi is in serious trouble now that most of Jordan is rising up against him. More from Outside The Beltway

END UPDATES

Reports are out that Zarqawi may have been killed in an explosion near Mosul:

The Elaph Arab media website reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group, may have been killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.

This would be an enormous lift to the effort in Iraq if true. And would confirm today’s liberals and democrats have the worst sense of political timing ever seen in the history of mankind. The weekend after Mad Murtha’s concept of immediate withdrawl, only weeks from the final round of elections formally establishing our allies, the democratic government of Iraq. While the libs claim we are losing, and our soldiers are the problem (Mad Murtha again) and they question a war that is now won – all they needed was an exclamation point showing why the left cannot handle foreign p0licy.

What kind of idiotic party calls for surrender days before the opposition leader is possibly taken out? What kind of short sighted partisans predict the Arab street will rise up against us, when it is more than likley the Arab street rose up and sent a signal to AQ that they don’t want anthing to do with the likes of Zarqawi.

How else do the liberals think we got the information that les us to surround Zarqawi in the first place? Even his family openly turned on him.

Family members of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi renounced the terrorist leader Sunday after his al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks on three Amman hotels that killed 59 people.

The family of al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, reiterated their strong allegiance to Jordan’s King Abdullah II in half-page advertisements in the kingdom’s three main newspapers. Al-Zarqawi threatened to kill the king in an audiotape released Friday.

“A Jordanian doesn’t stab himself with his own spear,” said the statement by 57 members of the al-Khalayleh family, including al-Zarqawi’s brother and cousin. “We sever links with him until doomsday.”

The statement is a serious blow to al-Zarqawi, who no longer will enjoy the protection of his tribe and whose family members may seek to kill him.

Obviously, Zarqawi killled so many innocent muslims, muslims decided they had to get rid of him.

Yeah, surrender dems! You have earned your reputation as clumsy, short sighted partisans who consistently draw the wrong conclusions.

UPDATE:

Looks like a real story. Here is the Jawa Report post on the subject.

More here

In Washington, a U.S. counterterrorism official said the identities of the suspected al-Qaida members was unknown. When asked if they could include terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the official replied: “There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed.”

Don Suber’s mega link post on the news is here, with another at Stop The ACLU, and Michelle Malkin’s, at Wizbang and Flopping Aces. Also Decision 08 has a link to the OSM – no word if they are in their pajamas.

And if Academic Elephant and I agree – must be true! Dr Sanity has the graphic of the day, hands down.