Reports from Iraq suggest US forces have begun withdrawing from the Iraqi city of Falluja after a month of bloody clashes with rebels.
Witnesses said US marines were leaving fortified positions in the south and west of the city early today.
A new Iraqi force, led by one of Saddam Hussein's former generals, is expected to move into the city while the US army stays outside Falluja.
Coalition military chiefs hope the Iraqi force will have more success than the US military in rooting out insurgents.
US marines encircled Falluja at the beginning of April and mounted a crackdown after guerrillas killed four American security guards, whose bodies were then publicly mutilated in the city, some 50 kilometres west of Baghdad.
Doctors say about 600 people have been killed in fighting in the city this month.
Last night US planes launched fresh attacks on Falluja as ceasefire talks continued elsewhere.
Yesterday, 10 soldiers were killed in attacks around Baghdad. Nearly a quarter of the 534 US combat deaths since the US-led invasion 13 months ago have occurred this month.