U.S. Military Returns Control of Anbar to Iraqis

RAMADI, Iraq - The U.S. military handed security responsibility for Anbar province to Iraqi forces Monday, a milestone in a vast desert region that was once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency and the deadliest place in Iraq for American troops.

The ceremony in Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, made the province the eleventh of Iraq's 18 to pass to Iraqi control, and the first Sunni-majority province to do so.

Just two years ago, a leaked Marine intelligence report concluded that the United States had effectively lost Anbar to al-Qaida in Iraq. More than 1,300 American service members died fighting in the province, nearly a third of the war's total U.S. toll.

The transformation began in late 2006, when Sunni sheiks turned against al-Qaida and formed the "Awakening" councils, putting tens of thousands of tribesmen on the American payroll to police their own towns.

Violence across Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since 2004, though U.S. commanders warn the gains remain fragile. Bombings in Baghdad and Diyala province last month killed scores, a reminder that insurgents retain the ability to strike.

"Anbar was lost, and today it is returned," the province's governor said at the handover ceremony. "This is the beginning of Iraq's rebirth."

The transfer comes as Washington and Baghdad negotiate a long-term security pact. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is insisting on a firm timeline for the withdrawal of the roughly 146,000 American troops still in the country.

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Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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