Gen.: Iraqis will take over Anbar in March

Gen.: Iraqis will take over Anbar in March
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 10, 2008 17:22:51 EST

WASHINGTON — Iraq’s western province of Anbar, origin of the Sunni Arab insurgency that arose in the early months of U.S. occupation, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday.

Thus far, nine Iraqi provinces have reverted to Iraqi control, most recently the southern province of Basra in December. The process has gone substantially more slowly than the Bush administration once hoped, mainly because of obstacles to developing sufficient Iraqi police and army forces.

Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels of violence have dropped so significantly — coupled with the growth and development of Iraqi security forces in the province — that Anbar is ready to be handed back to the Iraqis.

He said in a telephone interview that a provincial security committee under Anbar’s governor has been established and has rehearsed procedures for handling any security crisis that might develop.

Under a plan accepted by the Iraqi government as well as the top two American authorities in Iraq — Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus — the U.S. military will transfer control of Anbar to provincial authorities in March, followed by a ceremony in April, Gaskin said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_anbarhandover_080110/