Sunni attacks may delay U.S. plans for hand over

Diyala province may not be under Iraqi control by Dec. 31 because of insurgents, general says
By Lauren Frayer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TIKRIT, Iraq - A U.S. general warned Saturday that increased Sunni attacks in a province extremists call the center of their Islamic state in Iraq may delay plans to hand it over to Iraqi troops by the end of the year.

Plans call for all provinces to be transferred to Iraqi security control by Dec. 31, with the hope that U.S. troops could begin to leave. But increased attacks by Sunni insurgents could delay the transfer of Diyala, just northeast of Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.

Direct fire attacks on U.S. soldiers in the province are up 70 percent since last summer, said Col. David Sutherland, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 3rd Brigade. The security crackdown in Baghdad has also encouraged mostly Sunni extremists to flee the capital for surrounding provinces, especially Diyala, Mixon said.

That influx has caused a spike in violence in the province, known as "Little Iraq" because of its near-equal mix of Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds -- the country's three major groups.

"The potential is there" to hand over provinces "except in Diyala, where the future remains in question," said Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, which includes Diyala. "I'm not optimistic (about Diyala) given the current situation."

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