Qaeda's Zawahri says British "fleeing" from Iraq

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, has said Britain's handover of security in southern Iraq shows that insurgents are gaining the upper hand there.

"Reports from Iraq point to the increasing power of the mujahideen (holy war fighters) and the deteriorating condition of the Americans," Zawahri told an off-camera interviewer from As-Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm, in a video posted on the Internet on Sunday.

"And the decision of the British to flee is sufficient (proof of this)," he said, sitting beside shelves full of books.

The video, carried by Islamic Web sites, was issued as Britain handed over security to Iraqi forces in the last of four provinces it once patrolled, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq.

"Iraq is the most important of the fields (in which Islamic militants are fighting)," Zawahri said on the video, which carried English subtitles.

The Web sites invited sympathizers to send in questions during the next month for Zawahri to answer in an "open interview".

(Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Kevin Liffey)