Photos depict abuses of Iraqis by American troops.

Photos depict abuses of Iraqis by American troops.
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- All U.S. Marine forces will end the siege of Fallujah, pulling back to allow a newly created, all-Iraqi security force to move into the city starting Friday under a new agreement, a Marine commander said.
The new force, known as the Fallujah Protective Army, will be made up of up to 1,100 Iraqi soldiers led by a former general from the military of Saddam Hussein, Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said today.
Meanwhile, eight U.S. soldiers were killed today in the Baghdad area, a U.S. military spokesman said. Media reports said the troops were killed in a car bomb attack, but the spokesman had no details.
The Arab television network Al-Arabiya reported that the troops were killed in a car bomb explosion in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad. The spokesman could not confirm the report.
The deaths came after another U.S. soldier was killed today by a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said.
Another soldier was killed and another wounded today when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy outside the city of Baqouba, 24 miles north of the capital, the military said.
Death toll
The deaths raises to 126 the number of U.S. service members killed in combat in April, the bloodiest month for U.S. forces in Iraq.
The military announced that another soldier died in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad. At least 736 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Up to 1,200 Iraqis also have been killed this month.
In Fallujah, Marines were loading heavy trucks with gear and equipment today, while bulldozers flattened sand barriers that troops had set up along the city's southern edge.
Tentative agreement
The move came as a Los Angeles Times reporter embedded with the U.S. 1st Marine Division in Fallujah told CNN that a tentative agreement has been reached under which the United States would end its siege and withdraw Marines from around Fallujah over several days.
Reporter Tony Perry told CNN that four former Iraqi generals under Saddam Hussein had come forward and said that Iraq's army would be responsible for operations and security in the city.
According to Perry, the former generals will bring in the Iraqi army over two weeks, and if security in Fallujah improves by then, the Marines will pull back.
The Fallujah violence, aired live on television screens with images of explosions and burning buildings, increased pressure on the United States to prevent a revival of the heavy bloodshed in Fallujah during the first two weeks of April.
"Violent military action by an occupying power against inhabitants of an occupied country will only make matters worse," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned. "It's definitely time, time now for those who prefer restraint and dialogue to make their voices heard."
Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, a member of the U.S.-appointed governing council, also called on the United States to stop attacks in Fallujah and said if the United States refused, his Iraqi Islamic Party would consider withdrawing from the council.
"We call on the American troops that are bombing Fallujah to stop immediately and withdraw outside of the city," Abdul-Hamid told al-Jazeera television. "Otherwise, we'll be forced ... to consider the subject of withdrawal."
Bombs dropped
On Wednesday, U.S. warplanes dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on guerrilla targets as battles broke out in several parts of the city, including areas that had been relatively quiet.
One resident, Hassan al-Maadhidi, returned to Fallujah after fleeing earlier fighting and was distraught today when he saw the destruction from fighting over the past three days.
"I returned yesterday to see houses destroyed, streets empty and shops bombarded," al-Maadhidi said, adding that he may flee the city again.
Witnesses reported at least 25 destroyed buildings. At least 10 people were injured in the fighting, hospital officials said today. There were no reports of guerrilla casualties although insurgents often do not evacuate their casualties to hospitals, fearing that they could be arrested. Hospital officials said ambulances could not reach the areas where many of the battles took place.
In the south, a U.S. base in the Shiite holy city of Najaf came under mortar fire today in an attack that caused no casualties but showed increasing boldness from Shiite militiamen in the city. Militiamen also attacked a U.S. convoy passing through part of the city overnight, prompting an exchange that killed an Iraqi woman and wounded six people, hospital officials said.
Abuses by U.S.
Meanwhile, U.S. military police stacked naked Iraqi prisoners in a human pyramid and attached wires to one detainee to convince him he might be electrocuted, according to photographs obtained by CBS News which led to criminal charges against six American soldiers.
CBS said the photos, shown Wednesday night on "60 Minutes II," were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
In March, the U.S. Army announced that six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade faced court martial for allegedly abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, assault and indecent acts with another person.
In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison, including Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th Brigade, a senior military official said Wednesday in Baghdad.