Petraeus arrives in Kabul to take over

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 2 (UPI) -- Gen. David Petraeus landed in Kabul late Friday, where he is to take command of both U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan.

A ceremony Sunday will mark the formal handover from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, The Washington Post reported. McChrystal was effectively fired for remarks he and his aides made to a reporter for Rolling Stone about President Barack Obama and other U.S. civilian leaders.

Petraeus' first command decisions will include deciding whom to keep from McChrystal's staff.

Petraeus was accompanied on a flight from Brussels by Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Mark Sedwill, the senior civilian for NATO in the country.

After being credited with turning around the military situation in Iraq, Petraeus was promoted to head of U.S. Central Command, whose sphere includes both Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama hopes Petraeus can do in Afghanistan what he achieved in Iraq, where the Sunni minority was convinced to turn against al-Qaida and other insurgent groups, the newspaper said.