US marines pulling out of Fallujah

TEN American soldiers were killed in Iraq yesterday as marines who had been pounding the hotbed city of Fallujah withdrew, handing over command to one of Saddam's top generals.

Meanwhile, in Washington, US President George W Bush said he and Vice President Dick Cheney answered every question yesterday from the panel investigating the September 11 attacks and denied the joint appearance was intended to keep their story straight.

After the tentative deal was announced in Fallujah, marines and guerrillas skirmished, with blasts and sporadic gunfire heard from the northern part of the Sunni city. The agreement, which was still being finalised last night, came after intense international pressure on the US to find a peaceful solution to the stand-off that killed hundreds of Iraqis in the Sunni city.