However, analysts cautioned against reading too much into the strike against a network that did not appear to have much hierarchy but operates mainly through independent cells.
The killings may boost Maliki's stature as he tries to ensure his reappointment as prime minister following a March 7 general election that produced no outright winner.
FORMING IRAQ GOVERNMENT
Maliki's ambitions for a second term are proving to be a stumbling block to the formation of an alliance between Iraq's two main Shi'ite Muslim political groups that would give them the clout to form a government.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that high value intelligence was found at the site, in particular on the methods used by al Qaeda's affiliates in Iraq to communicate with the group's command structure outside the country.
"Terrorist attacks will not stop because al Qaeda remains active in Iraq. This will weaken their operation because the cell that was arrested will take us to other leaders," he said.
Maliki said Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir and thought to be an Egyptian, and Baghdadi were killed in Thar-Thar, a rural area 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Baghdad that is regarded as a hotbed of al Qaeda activity.
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