Major developments in Iraq on Thursday

The top Marine commander in Iraq warned Fallujah residents and insurgents in the city that they have "days, not weeks" to turn in heavy weapons.

Officials in Washington disclosed a turnaround in Bush administration policy toward former members of Saddam Hussein's political party, allowing Baathists and military officers to get jobs in the new Iraqi army or government. The shift is meant to counter growing Iraqi resistance.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice visited Capitol Hill on Thursday to answer questions from both Republicans and Democrats about Iraq. Subjects included the lagging program to train Iraqis to take over their own security, the plan to hand over power to an as-yet-unnamed Iraqi government on June 30 and the fact that American troops will have to stay long after that.

576 Iraqi insurgents and civilians died during this month's surge in violence that also took the lives of at least 100 U.S. soldiers, the Iraqi health minister said.

Spain agreed to a U.S. request to leave its intelligence agents in Iraq, a Socialist party leader said.

Delegates of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference urged the United Nations to return to Iraq and take "a central role" in restoring peace and security.

A kidnapped employee of RTI International, Nabil George Yaqub Razzouk, was released after being taken on April 8 near Najaf in southern Iraq, the North Carolina-based nonprofit company said. The company is working to build and strengthen democratic local governments across Iraq. Razzouk, an Arab Christian from east Jerusalem, appeared to be in good condition, RTI said.

-- AP