U.S.-led coalition transfers control of Iraq's armed forces to Iraq gov't; seen as a milestone

(AP) Coalition forces handed over control of Iraq's armed forces command to the government Thursday, a move that U.S. officials have hailed as a crucial milestone on the country's difficult road to independence.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a document taking control of Iraq's small naval and air forces and the 8th Iraqi Army Division, based in the south. However, it is still unclear how rapidly the Iraqi forces will be prepared to take over their own security.

"From today forward, the Iraqi military responsibilities will be increasingly conceived and led by Iraqis," said Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, at a ceremony.

Handing over control of the country's security to Iraqi forces is vital to any eventual drawdown of U.S. forces here. After disbanding the remaining Iraqi army following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, coalition forces have been training the new Iraqi military.

However, it is unclear exactly how quickly Iraqi forces will be prepared to take over their own security.

Previously, the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, commanded by Casey, gave orders to the Iraqi armed forces through a joint American-Iraqi headquarters and chain of command. Senior U.S. and coalition officers controlled army divisions but smaller units were commanded by Iraqi officers.

Now, the chain of command flows directly from the prime minister in his role as Iraqi commander in chief, through his Defense Ministry to an Iraqi military headquarters. From there, the orders go to Iraqi units on the ground. Initially, this would apply only to the 8th Iraqi Army Division, the air force and the navy.

The other nine Iraqi division remain under U.S. command, with authority gradually being transeferred. U.S. military officials said there was no specific timetable for the transition.

Days before the engagement, the 8th Division's commander, Brig. Gen. Othman al-Farhoud, told The Associated Press his forces still needed support from the U.S.-led coalition for things such as medical assistance, storage facilities and air support.

"In my opinion, it will take time," al-Farhoud said when asked how long it would take before his division was completely self-sufficient.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Wednesday it would be up to al-Maliki to decide "how rapidly he wants to move along with assuming control."

"They can move as rapidly thereafter as they want. I know, conceptually, they've talked about perhaps two divisions a month," Caldwell said.

The 8th Division was recently in the center of a fierce battle between Iraqi forces and Shiite militias. The division's troops fought militiamen in the southern city of Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, for 12 hours in a battle that left more than 20 soldiers and 50 militiamen dead.

Politicians have been optimistic about the handover.

President Jalal Talabani said earlier this week in a meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett that fighting in Iraq will have abated by the end of 2007, and that Iraqi forces will be able to handle any remaining violence.

British troops handed over control to Iraqi authorities of the southern Muthanna province in July, and al-Maliki has said another southern province, Dhi Qar, is to follow this month.

Violence continued in the hours before the handover Thursday. Six bomb attacks targeting police patrols in Baghdad killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50.

A suicide car bomb targeting a police patrol outside a gas station near the Elouya Hospital in central Baghdad killed 10 people, including four policemen, and wounded 21, police said.

Another suicide car bombing in Taiyran Square in the center of the city killed three policemen and wounded 15, the prime minister's office said. Police initially reported two civilians and two policemen were killed.

Two suicide car bombs exploded near al-Nidaa Mosque in northern Baghdad, the prime minister's office said. Nobody was hurt in the first, but the second killed three civilians and wounded 12.

Another suicide car bomb in Taiyran Square in the center of the city killed two civilians and two police special forces members, and wounded 13 people, police said.

In western Baghdad, a roadside bombing in Qahtan Square near Yarmouk hospital wounded four people, including a policeman, Mahmoud said. Elsewhere, in the upscale district of Mansour, a roadside bomb explosion killed a man and injured his daughter and another person, police said.

On Wednesday night, gunmen kidnapped the nephew of Iraq's parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, in Baghdad, was kidnapped, an interior ministry official said.

Two American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate incidents, the U.S. military command said.

One soldier, assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, died in the restive Anbar province west of Baghdad "due to injuries sustained from enemy action."

A second soldier, from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, was killed while on a mission near Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad.

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Associated Press Writer Bushra Juhi contributed to this story.