Sunday, May 29 2005 12:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted terrorist with a $ 25-million bounty on his head, has fled the country for emergency surgery after an American air-strike left him with shrapnel lodged in his chest and is now believed to be in Iran getting treatment, a media report said today (May 29, 2005).

Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who is being blamed for suicide bombings, assassinations and beheadings of western hostages, including the Liverpool engineer Ken Bigley, has suffered from bouts of high fever since being wounded by a missile that struck his convoy three weeks ago as he fled an American offensive near al-Qaim town in north-western Iraq, 'The Sunday Times' reported quoting an insurgent commander.

Zarqawi's condition late last week was described as stable, but supporters were preparing to move him to another "non-Arab" Country for an operation to remove the shrapnel, the report said.

The commander revealed that Zarqawi had suffered two serious shrapnel wounds and light burns as a result of the missile attack. "Shrapnel went in between the right shoulder and his chest, ripped it open and is still stuck in there," he was quoted as saying by the paper.

The second piece of shrapnel penetrated the same area of Zarqawi's chest but exited from his back. "There was concern about spinal injuries," the commander said. "But his ability to move eliminated that fear."

Zarqawi was carried to the other vehicles and taken to a hideout where he received basic first aid. He initially refused to be taken to hospital, but according to the commander his condition deteriorated.

When Zarqawi became delirious with fever four days later, aides took him to the general hospital in Ramadi, 80 km west of Baghdad, the paper said.

According to the report, the US forces may have lost their chance of capturing or killing him for now. "If he's got to Iran, there's not much we can do," said one.

Uncertainty has surrounded the fate of Zarqawi since the newspaper reported two weeks ago that a doctor at Ramadi general hospital claimed to have treated him for a wound that was bleeding badly. Supporters were urged to pray for him and some reports suggested that he might have died.

The insurgent commander said that Zarqawi had initially directed resistance to the US offensive in al-Qaim but had been advised to leave when the position became too dangerous.

He had been with eight other men in a convoy of three cars when the missile struck, although sources in Washington said that US forces had had no evidence that Zarqawi was in their sights, the paper said.

According to the commander, two pieces of shrapnel injured Zarqawi in his vehicle. One passed through his body but the other tore away a large chunk of flesh just beneath the shoulder, it said.

Zarqawi was apparently treated with first aid, but a fever would suggest that the wound had become infected. He is said to have been taken to the Ramadi hospital four days after being hit but left soon afterwards despite being urged by the doctor to let himself be admitted as a patient.

The account could not be independently corroborated, the report said. Some western officials believe that false reports are being circulated as a smokescreen to cover Zarqawi's movements, but the source has proved reliable in the past, the report said.