Diary of an Insurgent In Retreat

He provided details of what appears to be one of the ways his group financed its activities -- buying and selling trucks and cars, which he called "spoils." He recorded incomplete transactions, including details of money still owed to his group.

He also described the types of weapons the group had in its arsenal, including 7.62mm machine guns, RPG-9 rocket-propelled grenades and C5 rockets, used to target helicopters and low-flying aircraft.

Here, too, Abu Tariq listed the group members who were holding the weapons. In one entry, he mentioned a comrade who had "2000 C5 rockets and an RPG-9" in his possession but refused to hand them over.

"We do not know what is his intention in that regard," Abu Tariq wrote.

In another entry, Abu Tariq listed the names of some tribesmen who had remained loyal to al-Qaeda in Iraq, noting that "there are very few tribe members who stood by us." He boasted that 16 of his fighters had raided the houses of Awakening fighters, "killing and injuring a lot of them" and burning some of their vehicles, "which affected their morale and resources tremendously."

Abu Tariq devoted much of the diary to a list of remaining al-Qaeda in Iraq members in his sector and those who had betrayed his group, naming individuals, families and tribes. "My request to you is not to be negligent with the deserters/traitors at all," he wrote in an Oct. 28 entry, apparently addressing his followers.

He noted that early on, the group had sought to recruit government employees "to have access, sources and supporters among them in order to gain more information" about the tactics and movements of the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military, which he describes collectively as "infidels." But his followers should have "no mercy" on their former allies now, he said.

He also provided detailed information about five battalions of fighters, all weakened by desertions or dismantled.

About air defense operations, he wrote that there was one person left who was "willing to work with us to the end" and who had in his possession "three operative batteries (one inoperative) plus five C5 launchers and one 23mm gun."

Abu Tariq's diary ended with a list of people still working for him. There were 38, although he had written two weeks earlier that he had "20 or less" fighters left.

Some of those on the list had remarks next to their names, such as "We have not seen him for more than 20 days so far" or "Left three days ago."

"And that is the number of fighters left in my sector," Abu Tariq wrote.

Special correspondent Muhanned Saif Aldin in Tikrit contributed to this report.