Iraqis ready to take over from US

US: Despite some recent high-profile bombings, Iraqi forces are ready to take over major cities from U.S. forces, the top U.S. general in Iraq said Sunday.

Ray Odierno, commanding general of all U.S. forces in Iraq, said in an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" that he has seen a "constant improvement" in both the security situation and governance in Iraq to prepare for the June 30 deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from major cities.

Except for soldiers in advisory roles, all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraqi cities and towns by June 30 according to a security pact between the two nations.

In a separate interview on "Fox News Sunday," Odierno said all U.S. troops were already out of Iraq's major cities before Tuesday's deadline.

"We have already moved out of the cities," he said.

"We've been slowly doing it over the last eight months. And the final units have moved out of the cities over the last several weeks," said the general.

Washington, Monday, Xinhua