Basra ready for receiving security file after U.S. withdrawal

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi security forces are ready for receiving the security mission in Basra after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the official of the security committee of the Basra local council said Friday. “Our forces are ready for receiving the security file after the foreign troops’ withdrawal by the end of the month,” Ali al-Maliki told IraqiNews.com news agency, noting that intensified meeting are being held with security commanders to study the whole situation. “The number of Iraqi forces in Basra is enough,” he said, stressing the commanders asserted they are “enough”. The spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbagh had said on Monday (June 15) that all procedures for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraqi cities on June 30 have been completed, noting that Iraqi forces will protect the foreigners and diplomats working in Iraq. This came at a joint press conference with Defense Minister Abdulqader Mohamed al-Ubeidi, Interior Minister Jawad al-Boulani and Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. The U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (official name: “Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq”) is a status of forces agreement (SOFA) approved by the Iraqi government in late 2008 between Iraq and the United States. It establishes that U.S. combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011, subject to possible further negotiations which could delay withdrawal and a referendum scheduled for mid-2009 in Iraq which may require U.S. forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010. Basra is 590 km south of Baghdad. SH (S) 1