According to US officials al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden kept a handwritten journal that contained ideas of plans and details of the group's operations.

This journal was taken hold of during the May 2 dramatic US raid that ended his life.

It was initially believed that bin Laden went into hiding near the border between the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but he was found in a three-story mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 100 miles away from the border. The U.S. military raid was authorized on April 29, 2011 by US President Barack Obama.

The said journal formed an important part of a pool of intelligence that included around five computers and 100 flash drives, all taken by the US Navy SEAL assault team after they have gone through the entire compound of bin Laden where he was killed.

Since US officials were not authorised to publicly divulge what was uncovered in the hideout of the al-Qaeda leader, they spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It has long been established that Osama bin Laden recorded his plans and that he may have kept a diary since his son wrote a memoir describing his father as having his thoughts recorded.