Baghdad: US General David Petraeus, credited with helping staunch violence in Iraq, will hand over command of US forces there to Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno on September 16, a military spokesman said on Sunday.
Petraeus will relinquish command of the approximately 146,000 US troops in Iraq after 19 months on the job to become head of Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters responsible for a vast region from Kenya to Kazakhstan.
Odierno most recently served as the number 2 US commander in Iraq, finishing that assignment earlier this year. He will be promoted to full general as he takes over the Iraq command on September 16, said Colonel Steven Boylan, spokesman for Petraeus.
