US sets timetable to hand over Iraq's largest province

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

US sets timetable to hand over Iraq's largest province
by Ben Sheppard
Tue Jan 15, 5:40 AM ET

RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) - The US military will hand over to Iraqi control the huge province of Anbar within three months, a senior officer said, reflecting a sharp turnaround for a region once a hotbed of insurgency.

Colonel John Charlton, the top US officer in the provincial capital Ramadi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, told AFP that Anbar would be officially returned to Iraqi authorities in March or April.

The plan would mean local rule for both Ramadi and Fallujah, Anbar's major cities which were reduced to ruins in battles between US forces and an alliance of tribes, nationalists, Saddam Hussein loyalists and Al-Qaeda fighters.

Security has been transformed in the western province over the past year after Sunni tribal leaders turned against Al-Qaeda and switched loyalty to the US military, their former enemy.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestanbar_080115104014

[LynnTheDem]

1. "major cities which were reduced to ruins"

They match the rest of the country george w. bush attacked & ruined.