By Dexter Filkins Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for American forces in Iraq. A U.S. marine or soldier died in the province nearly every day, and the provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins.

By Charles Levinson BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military turned over control of Iraq's Anbar province, once the country's most dangerous, to the Iraqi government Monday in a landmark step toward the withdrawal of more American troops.

By Patrick Cockburn THE US military handed over security control of the province of Anbar to Iraqi government forces yesterday, claiming victory over al- Qa'ida in Iraq. President George Bush hailed the deal as a breakthrough.

By KIM GAMEL By Kim Gamel The Associated Press BAGHDAD His father was a senior member of al-Qaida in Iraq. His mother promised him they would meet again in paradise.

A suicide bomber drove a truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint manned by members of a U.S.-backed security volunteer group in a town north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, police and a member of the volunteer group said.