Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Al-Qaida in Iraq Confirms Death of 2 Leaders SITE Intelligence Group, a for-profit intelligence organization tracking the online activity of terrorist organizations, says it has translated statement off Islamic Internet forums confirming the killings VOA News 25 April 2010 Al-Qaida in Iraq has confirmed that two of its leaders were killed a week ago in a joint operation of U.S. and Iraqi forces. A for-profit intelligence group hunting for terrorists (SITE Intelligence Group) says it has translated a statement off Islamic Internet forums confirming the killings. The statement was made by Abu al-Walid Abd al-Wahhab al-Mashadani, a Shariah minister of the Islamic State of Iraq.  The group says he (Mashadani) was informed that al-Qaida in Iraq leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, were attending a meeting April 18 when forces engaged them in battle, and launched an airstrike on their location. U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two were killed during a raid near the northern city of Tikrit.  At a news conference last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki showed pictures of two bloody bodies he identified as Masri and Baghdadi. He said they were found dead in a small shelter under an al-Qaida safehouse after Iraqi forces assaulted the building with missiles and ground forces. U.S. officials have called the killings of the two top al-Qaida leaders a major development. Vice President Joe Biden called the deaths a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq, and said the success of the raid demonstrates the improved ability of Iraqi security forces. Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Qader al-Obeidi said Iraq's security forces have been busy pursuing terrorists, and that U.S. forces played a key role in the latest operations. .