UK prepares for hand-over of second Iraqi province
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Aug 26, IRNA
UK-Iraq-Handover
The British government has confirmed that Dhi Qar will be the second of four provinces under UK military occupation in southern Iraq that will be handed over to local Iraqi control.
"I am pleased that Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq will soon be handed over to Iraqi control," Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a statement Friday. It comes after Al-Muthanna was handed over in July.
Browne said that while the continuing violence in Baghdad is "rightly the main focus of interest," elsewhere in Iraq there is "real progress both in establishing security, and in the transition process."
But this does "not mean there are no security challenges" in Dhi Qar, he said. "It does mean that Iraq's security forces are now in a position to take the lead. I hope to see further provinces going through this process in the coming months," he added.
The hand-over of the two sparsely populated provinces will leave Basra and Maysan still under the British military.
The freed troops are expected to be re-deployed in an overall plan to complete the other transitions by the middle of 2007, when the UK reportedly is hoping to have halved its depoyment to less than 4,000 troops.
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