Iraqis take charge of province's security for first time
Jay Deshmukh
AFP
July 13, 2006
SAMAWA, Iraq -- Iraq on Thursday took charge of security in the southern province of Muthanna, replacing British and Australian forces in the first such transfer of responsibility in the country.
But in other parts of the country, violence continued with at least 16 people killed. A US military helicopter also crashed southwest of Baghdad.
"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.
Speaking during a colorful ceremony featuring dancing tribesmen and displays of martial prowess from local security forces, Hassani said "the transfer of security will make the Iraqi people understand that the occupation will end."
Coalition forces will, however, remain in the province but will be pulled out of urban areas and largely assume a supporting and advisory role.
The transfer means that the governor will maintain 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.
US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and the head of coalition troops in Iraq 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 named "Together Forward," launched a month ago and putting 50,000 US and Iraqi troops on Baghdad's streets, has been unable to restore stability.
In a visit to Iraq on Wednesday US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that militias as well as insurgents were undermining security.
Rumsfeld said that in addition to the security measures, the issue of the militias - most of whom are connected to political parties - had to be solved through the prime minister's national reconciliation plan.
"The political process is critical to success on the security side," he said.
One militia that has most often been accused of taking part in the sectarian revenge killings sweeping Baghdad is the Mehdi Army of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.
On Thursday Sadr issued a statement from his headquarters in the Shia shrine city of Najaf condemning the killings and attributed them to the "enemies of Iraq" seeking to divide the country.
"I call for all Iraqis to reject such activities and to unite for Iraq's security, stability, and unity, and all its sectarian and ethnic groups to stand against the politics of violence, kidnapping, and killing," he said.
A US military helicopter crashed southwest of Baghdad on Thursday, the military said, adding that the two pilots survived.
It said that the Apache Longbow helicopter was conducting a combat air patrol when it plunged to the ground at about 2 pm (1000 GMT) and that the "cause of the incident is unknown."
In eastern Baghdad a bomb killed five municipal road sweepers, while 11 people were killed elsewhere in the country.
The White House meanwhile said that Maliki will meet US President George W. Bush on July 25.
Iraqis take charge of province's security for first time
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