A top lieutenant of the head of Iraq's al-Qaida organization Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed by Iraqi security force, Iraq's national advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said on Wednesday.

"Our forces killed Abu Taha, the right hand of Abu Ayyub al-Masri a few days ago," Rubaie told reporters in a televised news conference.

He said the Iraqi security forces have become closer to Masri himself as they have arrested several of his men.

Taha was the second top lieutenant of Masri to be killed after Abu Umar al-Faruoq, who was killed earlier this year, Rubaie said.

Egyptian-born Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, took over as the head of al-Qaida in Iraq after the US troops killed his predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on June 7 in Diyala province.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)