Iraq takes control of province

Iraq takes control of province
Italy formally shifts security in Dhi Qar.

Published Thursday, September 21, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Italy formally handed over security responsibility of the southern Dhi Qar province to Iraqi forces today, the second of the country’s 18 provinces to be handed over to local control.

In scattered violence, at least 15 people were killed, including six policemen whose western Baghdad station was hit with mortar and gunfire. More mutilated bodies were found, the apparent victims of death squads, and the U.S. command said one American soldier was killed when a bomb exploded next to his vehicle in the north of the capital yesterday.

In a ceremony in Dhi Qar’s capital of Nasiriyah, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki thanked Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi for his country’s help in the province.

The overall U.S. strategy calls for coalition forces to redeploy to larger bases and let Iraqis become responsible for their security in specific regions. The larger bases can act in a support or reserve role. A final stage would involve the drawdown of troops from Iraq.

With the handover, Iraqis will now be responsible for security in the province, calling in coalition troops only when they are needed for support.

Italy’s force of some 1,600 troops is expected to be mostly withdrawn by year’s end.

Italy’s military has reported 32 deaths in Iraq, including 19 killed in the bombing of a military barracks on Nov. 12, 2003. Only hours before the handover ceremony, another Italian soldier died in an accident in southern Iraq, the Italian Ministry of Defense said.

Al-Maliki has said that the Iraqi army and police plan to take over security for all provinces in the next 18 months. British troops handed over control of southern Muthana province in July.

"It is a great day, it holds the message of the future handover of security control in all of Iraq," al-Maliki said.

In a joint statement, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. military official in Iraq, lauded the handover as "another sign of progress toward a stable and secure Iraq."

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq’s Human Rights office warned, however, that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in July and August hit 6,599, a record high number that is far greater than initial estimates had suggested and points to the grave sectarian crisis gripping the country.

It offered a grim assessment across a range of indicators, reporting worrying evidence of torture, unlawful detentions, the growth of sectarian militias and death squads and a rise in "honor killings" of women.

Today in downtown Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, parts of another two mutilated bodies were found.

One was decapitated with hands and legs chopped off but still could be identified by family members, Police Lt. Mohammed Ismail said, without identifying the victim.

A severed head belonging to Ahmed Kamel, also known as Munem Abu Shaiba, was found the previous day, Ismail said. Kamel was wanted by U.S. forces for suspected insurgent activity.