A lengthy policy letter from a senior Al Qaeda strategist to the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been declassified by US officials.
The letter was written on December 11 to Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, who was killed in June. The 15-page letter is the first document to emerge from what the military described as a "treasure trove" of information uncovered from Iraqi safe houses at the time of Zarqawi's death, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The author of the letter is believed to be Atiyah Abdel Rahman, a 37-year-old Libyan who joined Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan during the 1980s. US counter-terrorism officials say that he has risen through the ranks to be a senior strategist in Al Qaeda.
The letter warned Zarqawi that he risked removal as the terror group's leader in Iraq if he continued to alienate Sunni tribal and religious leaders and rival insurgent groups and cautioned him to seek more input from leaders before mounting campaigns.
It was also critical of the bombing of a major Shiite mosque in Samara in February, which Zarqawi said was done on his orders, the newspaper said.
US releases senior Al Qaeda letter
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