Al-Qaida leaders killed

BAGHDAD, April 20 (UPI) -- Two leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq were killed in an operation carried out by Iraqi and U.S. forces, officials said.

The deaths of Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were announced Monday by leaders in Iraq and the United States, with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden calling the news "potentially devastating blows to al-Qaida in Iraq."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went on national television to tell Iraqis of the development.

Officials in both countries said the operation shows Iraqi forces are becoming more able to handle security in the country.

Maliki also received potentially positive political news in that the country's election officials agreed to his request to hand recount more than 2.5 million ballots from last month's parliamentary elections. The ballots in question are from Baghdad.

Maliki's slate in the elections won two fewer seats that the group led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi but neither was close to a majority in the 325-seat legislative body. Allawi's Iraqiya coalition had been trying to pull together a government but the recount could delay those efforts.

It was unclear whether the recount could shift enough seats -- Baghdad has 68 in the Council of Representatives -- to put Maliki's State of Law group into the lead, a development that could keep Maliki in the prime minister's post.