Khalid Suleiman Darwish, better known as Abu Alghadiya, was among those killed in the operation, the daily Alghad quoted “well- informed sources” as saying.

Abu Alghadiya, a Syrian dentist married to a Jordanian woman, was described by Arab media as the ‘number two’ in Iraq’s Al Qaeda network and tipped to succeed its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.

A statement posted on Thursday on a web site used by militants announced the death of another Al Qaeda fighter in the same crackdown. He was identified as Abdullah Al Rashoud, a Saudi national listed on that country’s most wanted list.

Abu Alghadiya and Al Zarqawi are being tried in absentia by Jordan’s State Security Court for planning to launch a chemical attack on targets in Jordan, including the US embassy.

According to the Jordanian paper, Abu Alghadiya and Al Zarqawi were among the founders of the ‘Syria Warriors’ group in Afghanistan in late 1999.