Major General Mark Hertling, commander of US forces in northern Iraq, said other Al-Qaeda fighters are dispersing from cities into the desert because of fear of capture.

"We have had many indications that many of them are leaving the country because of what they perceive as an increasing amount of pressure," Hertling told reporters here via video link from Iraq.

"We've also had several indications that several of their leaders are leaving the country, leaving the country with cash, the cash that they wre sent to pay fighters with," he said.

Some were fleeing through Syria, while others were going back to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he said.

The dispersal of extremist fighters has also coincided with a spike in kidnapping for ransom, as fighters try to raise cash for themselves or their organizations.

"And this is not only AQI, this is also ISI, Islamic State of Iraq, and several of the other extremist groups," he added.

He said they were leaving because of the intensified pressure from US and Iraqi security forces in the north, and fears that they will be "ratted out" by locals who now feel more confident about security.

However, Hertling said the groups leaving the country were not large, and there were indications that they were attempting to regroup outside Iraq and then come back in.

"So we're watching the borders quite closely, and in fact have captured several fighters at the some of the border posts," he said.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq moved into northern Iraq after being driving out of al-Anbar province and much of Baghdad earlier this year.

US offensives in Diyala province to the north and east of Baghdad have squeezed AQI further north toward Mosul.

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