Colonel Joe Dowdy, commander of the Marines First Regimental Combat Team, was removed as head of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's Regimental Combat Team 1, said public affairs officer Steven Schweitzer.

"He was responsible for the regiment until three hours ago," Schweitzer said.

Officials at the US Central Command (Centcom) war headquarters in Qatar declined comment.

"At this time we have no information about anyone being relieved of command," Centcom spokesman Lieutenant Commander Joshua Rushing said.

But another senior officer, who declined to be named, said a replacement for Dowdy had been announced and a helicopter had arrived Friday with orders to ferry the colonel back to Kuwait.

Dowdy was in command of 5,000 men and women and had led the regiment's advance through southern and central Iraq, including a bloody passage through the Euphrates River town of Nasiriyah.

He was described as a popular commander who kept casualties down in leading his troops to some 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Baghdad by Friday.

SPACE.WIRE