An alleged, top al-Qaeda figure accused of masterminding one of the deadliest car bombings in Iraq and the videoed execution of a Russian diplomat, has been killed in a shoot out with coalition forces in Baghdad, the US military said today.

Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu al-Zubaydi, better known as Abu Rami, is said to have controlled the eastern half of Baghdad, an area called Rusafa.

Coalition troops surrounded a building in Adhamiya last night and demanded the occupants to surrender. They were shot at and returned fire. In the exchange, Abu Rami and a woman, who was with him, were killed.

A military statement did not specify whether the “coalition forces” involved were American or British. British special forces regularly take part in operations to kill or capture high-level al-Qaeda targets in the capital.