World

Britain Hands Over Basra Security To Iraq

December 16, 2007 / 4:23 AM EST / CBS/AP

British forces formally handed over responsibility Sunday for the last region in Iraq under their control, marking the start of what Britain hopes will be a transition to a mission aimed at aiding the economy and providing jobs in an oil-rich region beset by militia infighting.

The commander of British forces in Basra, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns, said soldiers had successfully wrested the region from the grip of its enemies.

"I now formally hand it back to its friends," Binns said shortly before he, Basra's governor and the Iraqi commander added their signatures to the papers giving Iraq formal control of the far southern province.

Mowafaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, said Iraq was ready.

"The security improvements didn't come from nothing, but were the result of huge efforts from both the government and Iraqi people in fighting terrorism, extremism, militias and outlaws," al-Rubaie said.

Basra's city center was festooned with flags, lights and banners to mark the occasion. But U.S. officials worry that a power vacuum could heighten the influence of Iran and threaten land routes used by the Americans to bring ammunition, food and other supplies from Kuwait to troops to the north.

Basra's governor, Mohammad al-Waili, said the Iraqis were ready to take over security.

"They are completely prepared to deal with this issue," al-Waili said.

In Baghdad, there was some skepticism that Iraqi forces were ready to take control in Basra, but many agreed that the handover was a positive sign.

"I hope it will be followed by similar steps across the country. Such steps are good for Iraqis," said Awatif Qazaz, a Baghdadi woman.

But Osama Juwad said he feared the security forces were infiltrated by militias.

Britain's participation in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the ongoing presence of troops is deeply unpopular in Britain - as is the $12 billion annual cost of operations there. A total of 174 British personnel have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

British officials have said they will retain the ability to help Iraqi troops quickly if widespread violence erupts, but they are also reducing the number of troops in the country from 4,500 to 2,000 by spring. In the months soon after Saddam Hussein was toppled, there were about 40,000 British troops in Iraq.

The main players in Basra and southern Iraq are the powerful Shiite entities - the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia; Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader the largest Shiite political party and the Badr Brigade militia, which has largely been absorbed into the Iraqi security forces; and the Fadhila party, which also has its own fighters and a member as Basra's governor.

Basra police chief Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf survived two assassination attempts in a single week last month and has accused religious vigilante militias of terrorizing women and Christians in the city.

In other developments:

Al Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a new video posted Monday that the United States is trying to hide its failures in Iraq and warned that the mujahedeen there are increasing in strength.

Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq early Sunday, Turkey's military said, the first such attack since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman.

A top U.S. general in Iraq says violence is at its lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion. He says the Iraqi government now has the window it needs to move forward with efforts to reach political reconciliation among its rival sects. Lieutenant General Ray Odierno says the first six months of 2007 were probably the most violent period since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The past six months, however, have seen some of the lowest levels of violence since the conflict began.