US to hand over Anbar as Iraqi Sunnis begin Ramadan
Posted: 01 September 2008 1154 hrs

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RAMADI, Iraq : The US military will hand over security control of Anbar, once the most explosive battlefield in Iraq, to local forces on Monday as Iraqi Sunnis begin observing the holy month of Ramadan.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi and US troops are on guard in the vast desert province in western Iraq, the first predominantly Sunni Arab region to be transferred by the American military to Iraqi security control.

Majid al-Assafi, the provincial police chief, told AFP on Sunday that his forces were ready to accept security responsibility in Anbar, the country's largest province and home to about two million people.

"Our troops are on alert to avert any failure of the transfer," he said.

Anbar, now a symbol of stability in Iraq, will be the 11th of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed over.

After the transfer, US forces will withdraw to their bases and will take part in any military operation only if requested by the provincial governor.

Ahead of the handover, the US military stepped up patrols on the main streets of the provincial capital Ramadi, as locals prepared to begin fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Iraqi Sunnis begin observing Ramadan from Monday, followed by Shiites on Tuesday.

Some locals were sceptical about the ability of Iraqi forces to maintain security in Anbar.

"Our forces are not ready to take responsibility for the situation. I am sorry to say, but there is a lot of corruption in our security forces," said Thar Mohammed in Ramadi.

Sunni Arabs in Anbar were the first to turn against US forces after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime by US-led invasion forces in 2003, mounting a raging insurgency that tore through the world's most sophisticated military.

In the first years after the invasion, the country's biggest province became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, while a string of towns along the Euphrates valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for Al-Qaeda.

Around one third of US forces or 1,305 troops have been killed in Anbar which shares borders with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.

The most lethal threat to US troops, "improvised explosive devices" or makeshift bombs, first made their appearance in Anbar, causing more than 40 percent of American casualties between 2003 and 2006.

The brutal Al-Qaeda led insurgency also killed around 6,000 civilians in the province, according to independent website Iraqbodycount.org.

The violence in Anbar began ebbing only after local Sunni Arab tribes -- weary of Al-Qaeda's extreme brutality -- revolted against the jihadists in September 2006 and sided with US forces.

Sunni tribes formed Sahwa (Awakening) groups which began fighting Al-Qaeda militants and within a year the province became the safest in Iraq.

US Marine General James Conway said on Wednesday that Iraqi forces were ready to take over responsibility as "the change in the Al-Anbar province is real and perceptible."

The US military currently has 28,000 soldiers in Anbar, down from 37,000 in February, according to US army figures, while the number of Iraqi soldiers and police has grown to 37,000 from just 5,000 three years ago.

The military had planned to hand over Anbar on June 28 but cancelled the previous day -- citing a sandstorm as the reason.

Local chiefs said the delay was due to Sunni political infighting between Sahwa and the leading Sunni political group Islamic Party.

Monday's handover is expected to help the US military cut its overall troop level in Iraq at a time when there is growing pressure to beef up forces in Afghanistan, where the level of violence is higher.

About 144,000 US soldiers are currently deployed in Iraq, but those numbers could decrease in coming months.

General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, has said he will decide in the coming days or weeks whether to continue withdrawing troops, and at what pace.

- AFP/ir