Iraq takes over security in second province
Iraq took control of security from US-led coalition forces in the largely Shiite southern province of Dhi Qar, officials said.
The relatively peaceful province is the second of the violence-ravaged country's 18 provinces to be handed over to Iraqi forces after the July transfer of power in Al-Muthanna province.
Italian and Romanian troops were in charge of security for Dhi Qar, of which Nasiriyah is the capital.
"Today we received the security file for the province of Dhi Qar which follows the handover of Al-Muthanna," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said during the handover ceremony.
"We will continue to receive control of other provinces as we manage to get our country back from the hands of the Baath dictatorship."
Maliki said stiff "challenges" still lay ahead.
"We still have to improve basic services. There are those who work to support terorists. We tell them that those days are gone."
Maliki called upon the people to join his national reconciliation programme launched in June in a bid to stem the Shiite-Sunni sectarian violence that has left thousands dead across Iraq.
"The national reconciliation plan is our sole patriotic option. But there is no room for those who think of marginalising the role of others," he said.
With the handover agreement, Dhi Qar's governor Aziz Kadhim Alwan will enforce security with provincial police and can call for help from the central government, which remains in command of the army and national police in the province.
"We will continue the programme of peace as we say good bye to the Italian troops," Alwan said. "I call upon the Iraqis to stay together given the sacrifices that they have made."
Dhi Qar, a province of about 1.5 million people, has been a relatively peaceful region compared to the main southern city of Basra or Sunni-majority provinces north and west of Baghdad.
Following the transfer of power, coalition troops would return to bases and offer training to Iraqi forces, adopting what is called an "overwatch" position.
On Tuesday US Major General Kurt Cichowski said that all "conditions required for the handover were met."
The factors taken into consideration in approving the handover had been the threat level faced by the province, the progress made in standing up its security forces, the governance of the province and its relations with coalition forces.
"We feel all these conditions are met and the Iraqi forces can manage the security in the province," Cichowski said.
Prior to the handover, 1,860 Italian and 430 Romanian troops provided security in Dhi Qar.
The provincial handover comes at a time when Iraq is shuddering under a wave of rebel and sectarian violence.
A United Nations human rights report on Wednesday said that at least 6,599 civilians were killed in the months of July and August in Iraq, most by gunshot wounds.
AFP
