WASHINGTON, May 24: Officials in Washington reacted cautiously on Tuesday to an internet claim that Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, had been wounded and said they could not immediately verify the authenticity of the statement posted on a militant website.

“There are a lot of these things that have happened in the past that have not panned out,” an official said. “All I can say at this point is I would approach it a little cautiously.” A senior US military official also said it was not known whether the internet posting was authentic.

“Islamic nation, brothers in unity, we pray God that our sheikh, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, recover from the wounds he has sustained,” said the statement issued in the name of the ‘information department’ of Zarqawi’s organization.

“May God heal you, the most dear of the Mujahideen. May God give you strength,” said the Al Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers.

The US officials said they knew of no other information, independent of the internet claim, that Zarqawi had been wounded. The US military, however, investigated reports earlier this month that Zarqawi had visited a hospital in Ramadi in late April amid rumours he was ill or wounded.

US forces launched a major offensive in western Iraq near the Syrian border earlier this month targeting forces loyal to Zarqawi. Although more than 125 guerillas were reported killed in the fighting, the bulk of the forces was believed to have slipped away. US officials have said Zarqawi narrowly escaped capture on Feb 20 in a raid between the cities of Hit and Haditha. A laptop was recovered that reportedly contained Zarqawi’s medical records.