A group led by suspected al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi offered a reward of US$282,000 on Sunday for the killing of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.

"We in Khalid bin al-Walid Brigade announce to the Iraqi people a reward of 200,000 Jordanian dinars (US$282,000) to whoever gets us Allawi's head," said a group statement posted on the site.

The authenticity of the message could not be verified and it was unclear why the offer was made in Jordanian currency.

The brigade, which said it was part of Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad Group, blasted Allawi as an "American agent." Several earlier purported Zarqawi messages have threatened Allawi.

The United States has offered a US$25 million reward for the capture of Zarqawi, its top militant target in Iraq.

The Jordanian-born militant's group has claimed deadly suicide bombings, assassinations of Iraqi officials and the kidnapping and beheadings of a South Korean and an American hostage.

Source: agencies