Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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February 10, 2008

Attacks Kill 41 in Iraq; Gates Visits Baghdad
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B349A2:A6F02AD83191E160EA3DE47DB57B18970531BB26A5003E7B& Officials say
insurgents raided several villages, fought with with neighborhood
militias A suicide car bombing has killed at least 19 people in
central Iraq, and 22 others died in fighting in the northwest of the
country.







U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks to repoters onboard of his
pale, Sunday, 10 Feb. 2008The new violence came as U.S. Defense
Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Baghdad for talks
with U.S. commanders and Iraqi leaders.

Iraqi officials say Sunday's car bombing happened near a market and an
Iraqi army checkpoint on the outskirts of Balad, a town north of
Baghdad.

Insurgents also raided several villages in northwestern Iraq,
triggering battles with neighborhood militias that killed at least 22
people.

A neighborhood militia leader opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq says the
fighting began when gunmen stormed villages near the city of Mosul. He
says the dead include at least 10 gunmen, six neighborhood watchmen
and six civilians.

U.S. commanders say Mosul is the last major urban stronghold of
al-Qaida in Iraq. Many insurgents were driven north by U.S.-led
offensives in Baghdad and surrounding areas last year.

The U.S. military says documents captured from leaders of al-Qaida in
Iraq last November show the group has been weakened in several parts
of the country.

The military says Sunday that a letter written by a senior al-Qaida
emir gives a pessimistic account of the group's prospects in western
Iraq's Anbar province.

The U.S. military says troops also found the diary of an al-Qaida in
Iraq leader in a raid near Balad, north of Baghdad. It says the
diary's author writes that American-backed neighborhood watch groups
have greatly restricted al-Qaida activities in the area.

U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith says the documents
do not signal that al-Qaida has been defeated across Iraq.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.




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