BAGHDAD, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine killed an Iraqi soldier during what the U.S. military described on Tuesday as an "altercation" at a security post in Falluja. A U.S. statement did not say what sparked the fight, which occurred on Saturday, or how the Iraqi soldier was killed. The Marine has been assigned to administrative duties, it said. "An Iraqi soldier was fatally wounded during an altercation with a Marine at a post at the Falluja Government Center," the statement said, adding that 300 U.S. Marines operate in Falluja alongside 700 Iraqi police and 3,000 Iraqi soldiers. "The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has initiated a criminal investigation," the statement said. U.S. spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas said the incident would not impact plans to hand security for the area over to Iraqi authorities. "Marines and Iraqis from the two units continue to live, eat, and fight alongside each other," Salas said in the statement.
