DUBAI, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said Britain's handover of security in southern Iraq showed that insurgents were gaining the upper hand, according to a Web video posted on Sunday.

"Reports from Iraq point to the increasing power of the mujahideen (holy war fighters) and the deteriorating conditions of the Americans," Zawahri said on the video. "And the decision of the British to flee is sufficient (proof of this)." (Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Charles Dick)

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