Petraeus to hand command to Odierno soon

BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus will turn over command in Iraq to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno before taking over Central Command, the military said.

Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, will hand over the command to Odierno Sept. 16 and take over his new mission in late October, al-Sumaria, the Iraqi satellite television network, reported Monday.

Central Command is the U.S. military headquarters responsible for the region from Kenya to Kazakhstan and includes Iraq and Afghanistan.