AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
British and Australian troops handed over security of one southern province to Iraqi forces for the first time, as 18 people were killed in rebel violence elsewhere in the country.
“I warn you that the terrorists will do their utmost to make this experiment fail, but we promise that we will stand beside you and give you all the support you need,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told Muthanna's governor Mohammed Ali al-Hassani at the handover.
“The transfer of security will make the Iraqi people understand that the occupation will end,” said Hassani during a colourful ceremony featuring dancing tribesmen and displays of martial prowess from local security forces.
British and Australian troops officially handed over control of security in the Muthanna province of 550,000 people, though coalition forces will remain and assume a supporting and advisory role.
The transfer means that the governor will enforce security with provincial police forces and can call for help from central government, which remains in command of army and national police forces located in the province.
“We saw that in Muthanna province all the conditions required were met so we handed the security to Iraqi forces,” said British Major General John Cooper, head of coalition troops in southern Iraq.
“Other provinces in the south are making progress, though of course we still need to work more on Basra — especially the police.”
Aside from Basra, most southern provinces are considered fairly stable and several are slated for security handovers in the next few months — though coalition force officials admit that immediately afterwards security may decline as insurgents test the system.
The head of the Iraqi army in Muthanna, who gave his name as Brigadier Hussein, told AFP that the forces still needed “more arms, armours and logistical help.”
Sheikh Jalil Sathr Saad, a leader from Muthanna's Al-Dhualim tribe said the province's people had “confidence in Iraqi forces but attention needed to be focussed on creating more jobs to see that youngsters do not fall to insurgency elsewhere.”
US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and the head of coalition troops General George Casey said in a joint statement that several provinces were close to meeting “the criteria necessary to assume security independence.”
But the implications of the ceremony for the south could not have been in greater contrast to the situation in the capital and nearby provinces, where in the past few days sectarian violence has claimed over 100 lives.
A highly touted security plan launched a month ago and putting 50,000 US and Iraqi troops on Baghdad's streets has virtually failed.
Iraqi lawmakers demanded an explanation from the defence and interior ministers Thursday in a closed parliamentary session.
Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman told AFP that the ministers said “there were some troops cooperating with terrorists and some may be corrupt,” which was hindering the security plan.
Othman said the ministers also revealed the troops were ill-equipped and did not have “vehicles, guns and other facilities. Even if they have guns they are old and do not work so well.”
He said the ministers further explained that cooperation with the coalition troops was also affecting the plan, saying “any movement made by Iraqi forces have to be in cooperation with the multinational forces and that takes time.”
Khalilzad also told US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee that there was still no solution to violence in Baghdad and also charged that “a few countries, most notably Syria and Iran, appear intent on fomenting instability in Iraq.
Meanwhile, a US military helicopter crashed southwest of Baghdad on Thursday during a combat patrol, the military said, adding that the two pilots survived.
In also said a sailor died due to enemy action on Wednesday.
The White House said Maliki will meet US President George W. Bush on July 25.
