Iraqi forces take control in one province

24 Iraqis killed in attacks nationwide

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- British and Australian forces handed over security responsibility for relatively peaceful Muthanna province to Iraqi forces on Thursday in the first such transfer of an entire province.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hailed the security transfer as an important step toward the goal of full Iraqi responsibility for all 18 provinces by the end of next year.

But at least 24 people were killed in attacks nationwide Thursday, illustrating the security challenges faced by this country.

"It is a great national day that will be registered in the history of Iraq. This step will bring happiness to all Iraqis," al-Maliki said during a handover ceremony in the provincial capital of Samawah. "Be sure that the terrorists want to destroy and foil the process of taking over the security issue and to hamper the political process and the national unity government."

U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad welcomed the handover in a joint statement.

"The handover represents a milestone in the successful development of Iraq's capability to govern and protect itself as a sovereign and democratic nation," they said.

The international troops plan to maintain a presence nearby and be prepared to help the Iraqis if needed. That fits in with the overall U.S. strategy of having coalition 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.

Sectarian violence continued to escalate Thursday.

A suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul, killing five people and wounding five, police said. The attack, which occurred about 8:15 p.m., also damaged some shops.

Police Col. Abdul Karim Ahmed said two policemen and three civilians were killed, and two policemen and three civilians were wounded.

Earlier, a bicycle bomb struck the headquarters of a village council near Baquba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

The blast in the village of Abu Saida, which has a slight Shiite majority, devastated the 21-member local council's headquarters. The bodies of four council members were found under the rubble.

Gunmen also killed a member of a provincial council in Diwaniyah, some 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Lt. Raed Jabr said.

U.S. sailor killed

A U.S. sailor was killed due to "enemy action" on Wednesday in volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad, the military said Thursday. The name of the sailor, who was assigned to the Ninth Naval Construction Regiment, was being withheld pending notification of next of kin, the military said.

A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter crashed during a combat patrol southwest of Baghdad Thursday, but both pilots survived, the U.S. military said. It did not say what caused the crash, nor did it give a precise location.

Al-Maliki to visit Washington

The White House announced Thursday that al-Maliki will visit Washington July 25.

President Bush has praised the new prime minister for his commitment to advancing democracy and reform.

Al-Maliki has promised to crack down on militias and sectarian violence, promote national reconciliation, accelerate reconstruction efforts and restore essential services such as electricity.

OK for exhumation withdrawn

The uncle of a female allegedly raped and killed by American soldiers said Thursday he gave U.S. officials permission to exhume her body and that of three family members but withdrew it after a local Muslim cleric said it would violate Islamic law.

Five U.S. soldiers have been charged in the March 12 killings of the Sunni family in Mahmoudiya, in a volatile area south of Baghdad. They are accused of conspiring with former soldier Steven D. Green, who was arrested last month in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.

Other developments

 

• The U.S. military said Saddam Hussein and three of his co-defendants have been on a hunger strike for nearly a week to protest what the defense says is a lack of security for their attorneys.

   

• Purported Shiite militiamen drove onto the streets of the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah and called on Sunnis to leave the neighborhood. Clashes broke out after police arrived on the scene, supported by U.S. forces in the air, with one policeman killed and two injured, Capt. Jamil Hussein said.

   

• A car bomb struck a police patrol in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing four people, including a child, and wounding seven.
  

   

• A postal policeman also was killed in a drive-by shooting in southwestern Baghdad.
  

   

• Gunmen attacked a minivan that was coming from the Shiite holy city of Karbala to Baghdad, killing the driver and wounding four passengers.
  

   

• Gunmen at a fake checkpoint also killed four policemen from Karbala after stopping their car in the volatile Baghdad neighborhood of Dora as they were heading home after a training course on Wednesday.
  

   

• A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army convoy on a highway northwest of Baghdad, wounding four Iraqi soldiers.
  

   

• Gunmen killed a policeman wearing civilian clothes while he was getting his car repaired in the northwestern city of Mosul. Five soldiers also were wounded in a roadside bomb in Mosul.
  

   

• A bomb exploded near street sweepers in the southeastern New Baghdad neighborhood in the capital, killing two people and wounding one.

   

• A suicide car bomb struck a U.S. checkpoint in Karabilah, near the Syrian border, but no casualties were immediately reported.