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| Iraq |
| Iraqi security forces to take over control of Babil Province |
| 2008-09-29 |
| Iraqi security forces will take control of the central Shiite province of Babil within a month, the provincial governor told AFP on Sunday, but warned that armed groups still roam the region. Salem al-Saleh Meslmawe said security control of Babil, south of Baghdad, would be transferred some time after mid-October, making it the 12th of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed over by the US-led forces. "We have discussed with the government and the coalition forces and there is an agreement to transfer security. This will be done within a month," Meslmawe said. "Security [in Babil] is very good and Iraqi security forces can control it." The US military had a sprawling base in the historic town of Babylon, just north of Hilla. According to UNESCO, archaeological treasures there suffered serious damage when US forces established the base in 2003. The decision to transfer security responsibility from the Americans was also confirmed by provincial police chief Fadhel Radad. But he also said local forces still needed logistical support. The former US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told AFP earlier this month that the Americans planned to transfer security in Babil and the nearby province of Wasit to the Iraqis before the end of the year. On September 10, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Qader Jassem Mohammed said Baghdad would soon assume security control of two more provinces. "Iraq will take over security files of two provinces, Babylon and Wasit. The handover will be very soon," he said. Following the transfer in Babil, American troops would withdraw to their bases and join military operations only if asked by the governor. On September 1, the Iraqis took control of the western Sunni province of Anbar, once the deadliest region in the violence-wracked country. Apart from Babil and Wasit, the other five provinces still under the control of US forces are Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Saleheddin. |
| Posted by:Fred |