Iraqis in charge of security in more than two-thirds of the country

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: With Wassit receiving security responsibilities from the Multi-National Force (MNF) last Wednesday, the Iraqi authorities are now controlling more than two-thirds of the war-scarred nation after more than five years of U.S. control. Only the provinces of Baghdad, Diala, Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Ninewa are left. On Wednesday, Wassit Governor Lateef Hamad Tarfa and the MNF Deputy Commander in central Iraq signed the handover papers in ceremonies celebrating the occasion. The beginning was with the province of al-Muthanna, 280 km southwest of Baghdad, on July 13, 2006, when the Iraqi security forces received security duties in the city during ceremonies attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who then delivered a speech calling for attaching special importance to the security issues in order to render the experiment a success. In December 2006, two Iraqi provinces went to the local authorities. Italian forces stationed in Thi-Qar, 420 km south of Baghdad, handed over the province, where Maliki, after the ceremonies, inaugurated a military college. Ten days before 2006 ends, the holy Shiite city of Najaf received its security duties in ceremonies attended by Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie on behalf of the Iraqi premier. “The Iraqi government wants Najaf to be clear of any militias or terrorist groups. We will keep working on that objective,” Rubaie said then in a speech. During 2007, handover of security to provincial Iraqi authorities moved north – namely in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. On May 30, the region’s three provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk received their security responsibilities from the MNF in ceremonies attended by Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nejervan Barazani, National Security Adviser Rubaie and the MNF commander in northern Iraq. Barazani then said in a speech that the step was yet another success on the road to re-build Iraq. Less than two months later, Missan province, 380 km southeast of the Iraqi capital, was transferred to local authorities by the British forces on July 17 in ceremonies attended by Governor Adel al-Mihawdar and the British forces commander in the province. The British forces, however, retained some security areas that are close to the borders with Iran under their control. The holy Shiite province of Karbala, 180 km southwest of Baghdad, then received its security responsibilities from the MNF in ceremonies attended by Maliki, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker and the then commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus. In Karbala then, Maliki has given a speech in which he stressed that the national reconciliation in Iraq was a successful process, noting the door was still open before anyone who would wish to join in. The southern Iraq port city of Basra, 590 km south of Baghdad, then received security from the British forces on December 16, 2007, after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had announced it earlier before paying a quick visit to the oil-rich city. The ceremonies in Basra were attended by Rubaie and Basra Governor Mohamed Mosbeh al-Waeli, who signed the handover papers with the British commander in the province. On July 16, 2008, the MNF passed on security duties to Iraqi authorities in Diwaniya, 108 km south of Baghdad. The date that had been set for the step was June 30 but was reportedly delayed for “reasons that have to do with the Iraqi government and the MNF as well as bad weather conditions”. As for the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, 110 km west of Baghdad, which had been one of the most volatile spots in Iraq before local clans turned down against al-Qaeda network gunmen and restore calm to the city, it should have received security duties on June 1, 2008. Local political leaders in Anbar had reportedly locked horns over the measure while the ann