Major fighting in Iraq over - Pentagon

Iraqi fighters have not mounted "a coherent defence" and major combat in the country is essentially over, a United States Army major general has said.

"I think we will move into a phase where it is smaller, but sharp fights," Major General Stanley McChrystal told reporters during a Defence Department briefing at the Pentagon in Washington.

Two US Navy aircraft carriers and the ships in their battle groups will leave the Gulf this week and return to their home ports, he added.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, McChrystal said, "I would anticipate that the major combat operations are over".

The departure of the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation reflects a winding down of the air campaign, although the Pentagon is still sending more ground forces to Kuwait and Iraq.

McChrystal said Monday was the last day that aircraft from all five coalition carriers flew missions over Iraq. The number of missions flown is down to about 800 a day, with fewer than 200 precision-guided bombs and missiles dropped.

Also, there have been no positive test results on the suspected chemical weapons found so far by coalition forces, McChrystal said.

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