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Washington: The United States has spied on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, according to US journalist Bob Woodward's fourth book on President George W. Bush, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
"We know everything he says," one of Woodward's sources on the extensive spying operation is cited as saying in the book being released on Monday, the newspaper reported.
The book titled "The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008," also says that the US troop surge of 2007 was not the primary factor behind the steep drop in violence in Iraq, the Post reported.
Woodward reports "groundbreaking" new covert techniques, beginning in 2007, enabled U.S. military and intelligence officials to locate, target and kill insurgent leaders and key individuals in extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The newspaper said Woodward also wrote about ongoing tension within the Bush administration over the quality and credibility of information about the progress of the war in Iraq.
The book also depicts the development of a close working relationship between Bush and Maliki, the report said.
Woodward writes that the surveillance of the Iraqi prime minister caused some consternation among several senior US officials who questioned whether it was worth the risk given Bush's effort to earn his trust, the Post reported.
Woodward is well known for his investigative work with fellow reporter Carl Bernstein that played a key role in forcing President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974 in the Watergate scandal.
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