The Jordanian fugitive is said to have suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and to be preparing to hand over command of his group to one of his lieutenants.

One unconfirmed report, citing a member of his group called Abu Karrar, said that al-Zarqawi had been shot at the weekend near the city of Ramadi. He was said to have later met four candidates — three Arabs and a native Iraqi — for the leadership of his al-Qaeda group in Mesopotamia, which has claimed some of the bloodiest atrocities of the insurgency.

Another source, who identified himself only as the “Jadriya sniper”, a reference to an area of Baghdad, appeared to confirm some of the details. In his report on the Hekmah (Wisdom) website, he said that al-Zarqawi’s right lung had been hit by a bullet and that he had difficulty breathing.

The report, which cited insurgents close to the militant commander, said that he had been smuggled out of the country by two doctors, a Saudi Arabian and a Sudanese. He is said to be in a stable condition.

Given the shadowy nature of the organisation and the fact that al-Zarqawi has a $25 million (£13.6 million) bounty on his head from the US Government, details on his whereabouts and health are hard to come by. His followers seem convinced that the Lion of Mesopotamia, as he is often referred to, is seriously wounded and may die soon.

One supporter called on Muslims across the world to initiate a campaign for “a million prayers of recovery”. Another message read: “All our eyes are full of tears for al-Zarqawi.” Another supporter said: “If al-Zarqawi is dead, I believe our nation can produce 1,000 more al-Zarqawis.”

While most messages were supportive, others were delighted that the man responsible for killing hundreds of Shia Muslims, beheading Western hostages and assassinating government employees may not live much longer. “I have heard about the injury to the devil-worshipper and it is wonderful news,” a correspondent said.

The US military authorities and the Iraqi Government said that they had no information about his fate. They did say that three senior members of his group had been arrested across the country. It is known that the Americans are devoting special forces and intelligence officers to searching for al-Zarqawi.

Raids by American and Iraqi forces continued yesterday. About 1,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers with support from helicopter gunships carried out a dawn assault on the western city of Haditha, an insurgent stronghold on the Euphrates. Troops conducted house-to-house searches and six suspected insurgents, including an imam, were killed.

Insurgents continued their attacks too. A suicide car-bomber killed two people near a police patrol in southern Baghdad.

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