Forward Operating Base Falcon, Iraq ? U.S. forces turned over command of one of the most dangerous sections of Baghdad to the Iraqi army on Monday, part of a gradual transition that would allow U.S. forces to begin pulling out.

The Iraqi troops took charge of the Sunni-dominated southern part of the capital after months of training and joint missions with American forces. U.S. officers say the Iraqis are up to the task and the battalion’s 32-year-old commander issued a defiant challenge to the insurgents whose attacks helped parts of the area earn the nickname “Triangle of Death.”

“The terrorists want to kill the Iraqi people,” Col. Ali Fadil said following the handover ceremony at a sprawling base on Baghdad’s southern edge. “But we will not allow this even if we have to sacrifice our own lives.”

The handover is part of a process that could determine when U.S. forces finally can begin withdrawing, more than three years after embarking on an occupation now facing a stubborn insurgency and growing killings among Shiites and Sunnis. President Bush says he wants an Iraq that can “sustain and defend itself,” but that’s unlikely to happen until Iraqi forces can assume full responsibility for security.

U.S. officials say they are moving patiently, but have pressed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to set a timeline for achieving key security goals. Empowered by last week’s midterm elections, Democrats have said al-Maliki has to realize the U.S. commitment isn’t open-ended.

Troops of the 6th Iraqi Division, 4th Brigade, 5th Battalion celebrate after a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Falcon in which their unit assumed control of a volatile slice of southern Baghdad from U.S. forces. The handover took place Monday.

Fadil’s troops of the 6th Iraqi Division, 4th Brigade, 5th Battalion – almost equally divided between Sunnis and Shiites – marched in tight formation at Monday’s ceremony as an army band played selections including the British army’s “March of the Grenadier Guards.”

Released from the formal parade, they shouted and sang, dancing with their AK-47s hoisted high.

Such scenes have played out at earlier transitions, but with violence raging across Iraq, not all have ended smoothly.

At least twice last month, U.S. troops had to return to areas already turned over to back up Iraqi units overwhelmed by Sunni-Shiite fighting.

Fadil and his unit won high praise from the local U.S. commander, who called them the most proficient of any Iraqi unit now taking charge.

“He is a fierce warrior, he is a patriot, his loyalty is to the country of Iraq,” Col. Michael Garrett, commander of the 25th infantry Division’s 4th Brigade, said of Fadil. Garrett’s forces will be ready to help if needed and have posted combat advisers among Fadil’s unit.