US says captured papers reveal Qaeda in Iraq weakened

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — A diary and a document captured during raids on Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq show the group has been weakened and that civilian anti-insurgency groups are making an impact, the US military said on Sunday.

Both documents were captured during raids by US forces in November, military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference in Baghdad.

The 16-page diary is that of an Al-Qaeda sector emir named Abu Tariq in Balad, north of Baghdad, while the other document is a 39-page memo written by a mid- to high-level Al-Qaeda official with knowledge of the network's operations in the western province of Anbar.

"Abu Tariq's diary provides clear and compelling evidence that the Iraq volunteer citizens' groups ... are restricting the terrorists'...