A man stands handcuffed in his kitchen as soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division search the home Thursday for a man they suspect is affiliated with al-Qaida in Mosul, Iraq, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Baghdad, Iraq ? U.S.-led forces killed a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure linked to kidnappings of a Christian Science Monitor reporter and other Westerners, the military said Thursday as mourners gathered at the slain terrorist’s home in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of Baghdad.

The U.S. Embassy, meanwhile, said a rocket attack on the Green Zone killed four Asian contractors Wednesday, the third straight day that extremists fired rockets or mortars at the U.S.-controlled area.

The announcement of the death of al-Qaida propagandist Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri came after days of conflicting reports from the Iraqi government that the top leaders of the terror group and its front organization – the Islamic State of Iraq – had been killed.

Chief spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military did not have the bodies of al-Qaida boss Abu Ayyub al-Masri or Islamic State leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and did not know “of anybody that does.”

Caldwell said the confusion apparently stemmed from misunderstandings among Iraqi security forces as al-Jubouri’s body was being moved across Baghdad after it was released to his tribe. But he played down implications that it was a symptom of a broader problem of communication between U.S. and Iraqi forces, saying instead it showed that the Iraqis were doing their jobs.

“They at least knew that they had somebody who was very significant,” he said, adding that was “a very positive thing.”

The Islamic State of Iraq confirmed in an Internet statement that al-Jubouri, whom it called its official spokesman, had been killed. It denied the deaths of al-Baghdadi and al-Masri.

Al-Jubouri was believed to have been deeply involved in the kidnapping of Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter who was released unharmed, and Tom Fox, of Clear Brook, Va., one of four men from the Chicago-based peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams who was found shot to death in Baghdad on March 10, 2006, he said. He was also involved in the kidnapping of two Germans in January 2006, Caldwell said.

Caldwell said al-Jubouri helped facilitate Carroll’s transport from one location to another and was believed to have been the last known person to have custody of Fox before he was killed. The Monitor later reported that Carroll did not recognize a photo of al-Jubouri that the military provided.

Al-Jubouri was arrested in 2003 by the U.S. and freed a year later, Caldwell said. A man who claimed to be a relative said al-Jubouri, in his mid-30s and a father of four, deepened his involvement with insurgents after his release. The relative spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own safety.

Caldwell said al-Jubouri had worked in Syria, where he allegedly helped smuggle foreign fighters and funds into Iraq until he returned to the country in September.

Al-Jubouri was killed early Tuesday during an operation dubbed “Rat Trap” about four miles west of the Taji, a town near an air base north of Baghdad, Caldwell said. The body was identified by photos and DNA testing, he said.

On Thursday, mourners gathered at al-Jubouri’s house in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, as a huge funeral tent went up in the street, police said.