WASHINGTON, April 26 (Xinhuanet) -- A top US military official said Tuesday that US forces in Iraq were close to capturing most-wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but he is still at large.

    "I think in general the intelligence is getting better. Having said that, we still don't have Zarqawi," General Richard B. Myers,chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news briefing.

    His remarks came amid reports that US troops nearly captured Zarqawi, the top ally of Osama bin Laden in Iraq, in a February raid that netted two of his associates.

    US forces captured a trusted lieutenant of bin Laden west of Falluja near Ramadi on February 20 when they got tips that Zarqawimight be in the area. They recovered a computer belonging to Zarqawi, who escaped the raid.

    Zarqawi was believed to have been in a suspicious vehicle chased down by US troops, but he managed to escape before the troops stopped the vehicle. Along the computer, the troops found "a treasure trove of information" including his direct connections to bin Laden, officials said.

    Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for numerous car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.

    "We were close. And if you go much further into this, then you get into some of the operational methods, which we can't discuss," Myers said. Enditem