Iraqi insurgents move north from Baghdad

MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents who have been crowded out of Baghdad and Iraq's western province of Anbar have moved north, the U.S. military said.

Many of the fighters have converged in and around the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, including Abu Ayyub-al Masri, the leader of al -Qaida in Iraq, a predominantly Iraqi group U.S. intelligence claims has foreign leadership, a New York Times correspondent reported Thursday.

"We have seen some migration of al-Qaida," said Col. Stephen Twitty, the U.S. commander of forces in the area, said. "What has driven that are the operations down south."

Mosul is now secured by about 6,500 Iraqi soldiers and policemen and a U.S. contingent of about 1,000, Twitty said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Mosul on Wednesday before flying to Baghdad, and said commanders indicated they could use more combat power in the north and would welcome more Iraqi battalions, but didn't asked for additional U.S. troops.

"They did indicate to me that they are having a continuing challenge up there," he said.