Baghdad, Iraq ? A Web site that acts as the clearinghouse for messages from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said Tuesday that Iraq’s most-wanted militant had been wounded “for the sake of God” and asked Muslims to pray for his recovery.

The statement – unusual in that it seemed to seek sympathy for the Jordanian-born militant and possibly may even be preparing supporters for coming bad news – roughly coincided with hints that U.S. and Iraqi officials have recent, solid tips about al-Zarqawi’s movements.

In one recent case, Iraqi officials tore apart a Baghdad hospital in a frenzied, ultimately fruitless search for the terrorist mastermind.

But U.S. officials cautioned they did not know if the posting was authentic, and privately said the information also may have been designed to mislead.

“We don’t know if the report is fact or fiction or what the state of his health is. He remains our number one priority to capture or kill,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Boylan said in Baghdad.

The statement was posted on a Web site known for carrying prior statements by al-Qaida in Iraq and other militant groups. The Arabic word for injury or wound used in the statement, “jarh,” could mean that al-Zarqawi suffered either a wound in an attack or an accidental injury. But the context implies that he was wounded in an attack or battle.

“Let the near and far know that the injury of our leader is an honor, and a cause to close in on the enemies of God, and a reason to increase the attacks against them,” said the statement, posted in the name of the group’s media coordinator, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi.

The statement ended with prayers for al-Zarqawi, calling on the nation of Islam to “pray for our Sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to recover from an injury he suffered for the sake of God.”

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the official’s work said one of the possibilities being considered is whether the statement was purposely misleading.

But the increasing number of tips and reports about the whereabouts of al-Zarqawi indicate the man is increasingly in the line of vision of his pursuers.

One of al-Zarqawi’s closest aides was arrested three days ago in Salahuddin province, the Iraqi presidential adviser for security affairs, Gen. Wafiq al-Samarie, said in an interview Tuesday on Al-Jazeera television.

“Maybe he gave information, of course he gave information about (al-Zarqawi),” al-Samarie said.

In addition, a senior U.S. military official said recently that al-Zarqawi may have met with his lieutenants in Syria last month, during a get-together in which he ordered increased attacks.