U.S. forces hand over military base to Iraqi forces in Falluja

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: U.S. troops on Sunday handed over to Iraqi forces a military headquarters in Anbar province, according to a local security source. “Concrete barricades have been removed from around the site, in addition to watchtowers and CCTV cameras,” Captain Mohammed Rabie told IraqiNews.com news agency. A number of roads close to the site were re-opened after they have been closed for more than four years, the captain noted. On November 27, 2008, the Iraqi Parliament passed a security pact with the United States, known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA), 10 days after the Iraqi cabinet approved it with an overwhelming majority. U.S. combat forces are scheduled to leave the Iraqi cities and districts by the end of June within preparations for withdrawal from Iraq by August 2010, to be completed by the end of 2011 commensurate with U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan. Falluja was a scene of armed conflict between U.S. and Iraqi forces on the one hand and al-Qaeda gunmen on the other. Falluja, the largest city in Anbar, lies 45 km west of Baghdad; while Ramadi, the capital of the province, lies 110 km west of Baghdad. SS (S) 1