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US-led coalition forces handed over security control of Najaf province to Iraqi forces on Wednesday.

Najaf is the third of Iraq's 18 provinces to come under local control, though US-led forces will remain on standby should the security situation deteriorate. British troops handed over control of southern Muthana Province in July, and the Italian military transferred Dhi Qar Province to Iraqis in September.

"If we don't handle the responsibility, history will destroy us," said Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, speaking at a ceremony in the provincial capital of Najaf, south of Baghdad. He urged former members of Saddam Hussein's army to join Iraq's new military, and said he would do his best to get better equipment for forces nationwide.

 
Najaf is the holiest city in Iraq for Shi'ites. It is a relatively peaceful area of Iraq, tightly controlled by police and Shi'ite guards.

A top US military said Iraqi forces in Najaf would be aided if necessary.

"Coalition forces will continue to provide support if called upon," Major General Kurt Cichowski said. "We will be quite literally just up the road."

Cichowski said more pilgrims could enjoy religious sites in Najaf, thanks to a safe airport and highways.

"Transferring responsibility is an indication of the increased capacity of the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army," he said.

Authorities imposed restrictions on driving in Najaf to ensure security for the handover event.

At the ceremony, soldiers paraded around a soccer field, as donkeys pulled carts through the streets outside the stadium. A small group of protesters gathered, demanding benefits for family members who joined the police and were killed in Baghdad.

The US-led coalition wants to hand over control of police and all services to governors in Iraq's 18 provinces, and gather at larger bases. If violence developed that local police could not handle, a governor could request help from national police or the Iraqi army. To get coalition forces involved, a governor would need the permission of Iraq's prime minister.

Najaf is home to the iconic Imam Ali shrine near the city's massive cemetery used by Shi'ites throughout the country to bury their dead.

New defence secretary arrives

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad Wednesday, armed with a mandate from US President George W. Bush to help forge a new Iraq War strategy. He made the unannounced trip to the battlefront just two days after taking over at the Pentagon.

Gates went in pursuit of advice from his top military commanders on a new strategy for an increasingly unpopular, costly and chaotic war which he has admitted the US is not winning. His trip so soon after taking office underscored the Bush administration's determination to be seen as energetically seeking a new path in the conflict.

"The whole purpose is to go out, listen to the commanders, talk to the Iraqis, and see what I can learn," Gates told reporters as he boarded his aircraft in Washington on Tuesday.

The visit comes in advance of a long-expected shuffle in the upper echelons of command.

(China Daily December 21, 2006)