BAGHDAD — Iraq is preparing to assume security
responsibility for several cities in the Shi'ite south.
Iraqi officials said Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition have agreed to a
plan in which the government in Baghdad would launch a series of steps to
acquire security responsibility throughout the country. They said the first
target would be southern Iraq.
The plan was discussed in a meeting of a new joint council established
to discuss parameters of the handover of authority to the government and the
withdrawal
of U.S. forces from Iraq. The parameters would establish the
capabilities of Iraqi forces and the level of the Sunni insurgency, Middle East Newsline reported.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwaffaq Al Rubaie said the government
was preparing to accept control over five cities in the first stage of a
security handover. Al Rubaie cited Diwaniya, Karbala, Najaf, Nasseriya and
Samawa.
Officials said these cities have been the quietest in Iraq over the last
year. Najaf was the scene of heavy fighting between U.S. troops and the
Iranian-backed Mahdi Army in August 2004.
In 2005, the coalition has transferred security responsibility for areas
in and around Baghdad to the Iraq Army. Officials said areas of northern
Iraq would also be handed over to the army by the end of the year. They
could include the cities of Irbil and Suleimaniya.
U.S. ambassador in Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said Baghdad and Washington
have agreed to a seven-point plan for Iraqi development. Among the points
were the defeat of the insurgency and improvement in the capability of Iraqi
ministries.
Khalilzad did not confirm the assertion of Al Rubaie regarding the
choice of Iraqi cities to be relayed by the coalition. He said the joint
committee, to include Iraq's defense minister, would reach such a decision.
"We are working to build up Iraqi capabilities so that the security that
is needed to be provided, is provided by the Iraqi forces as soon as
possible," Khalilzad said. "But we know that that takes time. Therefore
we're working through this joint committee as to how this transition from
the coalition could take place, that Iraqis take more and more
responsibility for security in those areas. And we're going to develop an
integrated, agreed-upon, prudent plan of action on how to move forward."
