Citing unnamed Iraqi government officials, current and former members of the Awakening Councils and insurgents, the newspaper said that although there were no firm figures, hundreds of fighters appear to have rejoined Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia in recent months. Many of them would have gained extensive knowledge about the US military, it said.

Officials also said that possibly thousands of Awakening fighters still on the Iraqi government payroll covertly aid the insurgency.

The defections have been driven in part by frustration with the Shiite-led government, which Awakening members say is intent on destroying them, as well as by pressure from Al-Qaeda, the paper said.

The defections have accelerated since Iraq's inconclusive parliamentary elections in March, which have left Sunnis uncertain of retaining what little political influence they have in the country.

The switch in loyalties by Awakening members poses a new threat to Iraq's social and political balance as the US military prepares to withdraw next year, The Times noted.

“The Awakening doesn’t know what the future holds because it is not clear what the government intends for them,” the paper quoted Nathum Al-Jubouri, a former Awakening Council leader in Salahuddin Province, as saying. Al-Jubouri recently quit the organization.

“At this point, Awakening members have two options: Stay with the government, which would be a threat to their lives, or help Al-Qaeda by being a double agent,” he said. “The Awakening is like a database for Al-Qaeda that can be used to target places that had been out of reach before.”

The Awakening began in 2006, when Sunni insurgents and tribal leaders began turning against Al-Qaeda and other extremists — a change that played a major role in pulling Iraq back from the brink. The former insurgents were initially paid by the American military, with promises that they would eventually get jobs with the government.

But Awakening leaders and security officials say that since the spring, as many as several thousand Awakening fighters have quit, been fired, stopped showing up for duty, or ceased picking up paychecks.

During the past four months, the atmosphere has become particularly charged as the Awakening members find themselves squeezed between Iraqi security forces, who have arrested hundreds of current and former members accused of acts of recent terrorism, and Al-Qaeda’s recruitment techniques, the report said.

As part of the militants’ unusual, though often convincing strategy, Awakening members that Al-Qaeda fails to kill are then sought out to rejoin the insurgency. They are offered larger paychecks than their $300 a month government pay and told that they would be far safer.

The government, which says it is trying to integrate the Awakening into broader Iraqi society, has also angered the group by confiscating its weapons, saying Awakening fighters lack proper permits, and stripping some fighters of their ranks, which the government says were not properly earned. The pay of some Awakening leaders has also been reduced.