TOP U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ SAYS TROOPS MAY STAY LONGER IN MOSUL

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general in Iraq hedged his bets Friday about whether U.S. combat troops will pull out of the tumultuous city of Mosul on schedule next month, a milestone in the handover of Iraq's security to its own troops.

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Mosul is Iraq's third largest city and a stronghold for al-Qaida and other Sunni militant violence despite markedly improved safety in most of the rest of the country. It is a key test of the security contract signed by the United States and Iraq last year that would pull U.S. forces out of the country by 2011.

Gen. Raymond Odierno said U.S. and Iraqi forces are in the midst of a neighborhood-by-neighborhood sweep of Mosul ahead of a June 30 deadline to hand over security for the city to Iraqi forces.