The US military will this week begin handing over control of 100,000 Sunni anti-Qaeda fighters to Iraq's Shiite-led government, a move that risks undermining hard-earned security gains. The Iraqi government and the US military have agreed in principle to the transfer of responsibility of all "Sons of Iraq" from October 1, beginning with 54,000 men in the province of Baghdad. The US military uses the term Sons of Iraq, or "SOIs," to refer to the militia, also known as Sahwa (Awakening) Councils, which it recruited from among Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents. Iraq will start paying the salaries of Sahwa men in Baghdad -- a monthly bill of around 15 million dollars -- from November 10, Major General Jeffery Hammond, commander of US forces in the Iraqi capital, told reporters. Control of the remaining Sahwas in Sunni areas of central, western and north-central Iraq will be transferred gradually, according to US and Iraqi officials.