Letters appear to show al-Qaida fractures

BAGHDAD, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Letters allegedly written by the No. 2 man in al-Qaida and released by the U.S. military complain about recruitment, communications and other internal issues.

The letters are supposed to have been written in March by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who has become Osama bin Laden's top deputy, to Iraqi groups related to al-Qaida, CNN reported. The news network said it had the letters translated after the military released them Wednesday.

"It is in their own words," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Perkins, a military spokesman, said of the letters. "It is reflective of what they are saying about themselves."

The first letter to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, head of al-Qaida in Iraq, questions his leadership and complains of lack of communications. It accuses him of putting out videos of old operations, claiming they are new and taking credit for other group's activities.