US hands over Fallujah to Saddam general

US marines performed an abrupt U-turn yesterday and prepared to hand the siege city of Fallujah over to an Iraqi army led by one of Saddam Hussein’s top generals.

The move was made on a day when 10 more US soldiers were killed in Iraq bringing the month's death toll to 126. Marines encircled the city of 200,000 on April 5, following the killings and mutilations of four US contract workers.

In addition to the hundreds of Iraqis killed, at least eight marines died in the fighting, although a full US casualty count from the battle has not been released.