Iraqi govt to take over security in south this month
BAGHDAD, June 16: A top government official said on Friday that Iraq has an agreement to take over security responsibilities from foreign forces in southern Iraq this month. Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie was responding to a Japanese news report that British, Australian and Japanese troops will transfer security responsibilities in southern Iraq to Iraqi authorities next week, and soon withdraw from the area.
“There is an agreement to take over the security responsibilities from the British, Australian and Japanese forces in southern Iraq during this month,” al-Zubaie said. “There is such a plan and such news is not based on nothing.
We hope that the Iraqi security forces will live up to their duties there. It is the dream of all Iraqis that our forces will handle security issues all over Iraq.”
The Kyodo News agency, citing people close to the coalition forces, reported that British officials told their counterparts in the other two countries last week that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will announce the transfer of security authority in southern Iraq on Tuesday.
Officials in the Iraqi prime minister’s media office said they could not confirm or deny the report.
Al-Zubaie said he knew nothing about plans for such an announcement and could provide no other details.
Japan has about 600 troops in Muthanna’s capital, Samawah, carrying out other humanitarian tasks. Australia has about 1,320 troops in Iraq and the Middle East, including around 460 soldiers guarding Japanese engineers in Samawah. Britain has about 8,000 troops in southern Iraq, and roughly 2,000 others in Gulf region.
Al-Maliki announced shortly after taking office on May 20 that Iraqi security forces will start assuming full responsibility for some provinces and cities this month, beginning an 18 month process leading to the eventual withdrawal of all coalition forces.
The US military has also said that coalition forces could begin transferring security control over some Iraqi provinces to civilian authorities and police by the end of the summer, but that Baghdad would not be handed over before the end of the year.
During his visit to Baghdad last month, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that “responsibility for much of Iraq’s territorial security” would be transferred to Iraqi control by December _ with Iraqi forces taking control of all 18 provinces within 18 months.
A British Defence Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with government police, declined to comment on the timing of a security handover.
“There isn’t actually that much extra we can say on this,” the official said. “Clearly the decision on security handover will be a matter for the Iraqi government, and we are not going to speculate about when this decision might be made.”
He said the ministry’s position hasn’t changed since Defense Secretary Des Browne said on May 24 that
conditions for handing over security were close to being met in the province of al-Muthanna, one of
the four provinces for which Britain
is responsible.
Handing over control of provinces does not necessarily mean the Americans or their allies would pull out entirely.
Instead, US officials have said it means the provincial governor would have control, and Iraqi civilian police would be the first to respond. US-led coalition forces would only nominally intervene following a request from Iraqi officials
That would fit in with the overall strategy so far: American and international forces hand over security control for specific regions and redeploy to larger bases — where they can act in a support or reserve role.
A final future stage would involve the drawdown of troops from those bases. Such a phased withdrawal would not necessarily have a specific time frame.
According to the strategy, the first stage involves “tactical overwatch,” which has Coalition soldiers drawing back from patrols and allowing
Iraqi officers and troops to step in
to carry out operations_ which would be approved by the U.S.-led command.
That is where things stand now in parts of Iraq.
The next phase is “operational overwatch,” in which Iraqi security forces and civilian police take responsibility under a provincial governor, or other official, and coalition forces are held in reserve in bases that are spread out _ intervening when necessary or when asked.
The next phase, which could come as early as 2008, would involve a hand over at a national level — which could then set stage for a large-scale withdrawal a few years later.—AP
