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.

The Fallujah agreement was negotiated between US forces and city representatives, including four Iraqi generals.

The deal provides for a new force, known as the Fallujah Protective Army (FPA), to enter the city today and provide security. It will consist of up to 1,100 Iraqi soldiers led by a former general from Saddam's military, said marine Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne.

Marine forces will gradually pull back from their positions in and around Fallujah, to allow FPA forces to take positions enforcing the cordon of the city and move into some neighbourhoods on Friday, Colonel Byrne said.

Colonel Byrne identified the commander only as General Salah, a former division commander under Saddam. He did not know the general's full name.

But a Lieutenant General Salah Abboud al-Jabouri, a native of the Fallujah region, served as governor of Anbar province under Saddam and was a senior commander in Saddam's military.

Many of the guerrillas in Fallujah are believed to be former members of Saddam's regime or military.

The forces will "have certain advantages we don't," Colonel Byrne said. "One, they're Iraqis. Two, they're local. So, they know the populace and the terrain."

It seems likely that some of the insurgent gunmen in the city mainly criminals who fought Americans for money and some disgruntled ex-soldiers in the city, though not hard-liners or Islamic fighters would likely end up as part of the force, said a marine officer.

Inside the city residents breathed a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe what we have gone through," said Hassan al-Halbousi, a resident in his 60s who spent the entire siege alone in his house. "The bombing has terrified me, no one is in the streets. Even the dogs were hunting us because they had no food," he said.

US troops at the main checkpoint in and out of Fallujah opened fire on a car, killing several Iraqis, although there were differing accounts of the attack.