Security handover discussed in Iraq

Published: 7:54AM Wednesday August 03, 2005 Source: Reuters

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US and British ambassadors met senior Iraqi ministers on Tuesday to discuss the transfer of security from foreign to Iraqi forces, a process that lays the groundwork for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
   
It was the first meeting of a body dubbed the "commission for conditions-based transition", which will decide over the coming months which parts of Iraq are safe enough for Iraqi forces to take over and let foreign troops pull back.
   
The body, made up of Iraq's interior and defence ministers, its national security adviser, the US and British ambassadors, and the top foreign military commanders, said it would make its first recommendations to Iraq's prime minister next month.
   
In a statement, the commission said it had agreed the main consideration for any transfer of responsibility was the capacity of Iraqi forces to handle security alone.
   
A US military report issued last month revealed that more than half of Iraq's army battalions and police units were currently incapable of operating without US support.
   
Other considerations include the ability of local government authorities to keep order and provide services, and the level of insurgent threat in any region.
   
Currently, about 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces are considered relatively stable. In the others, insurgent attacks are frequent and sustained. Even in the 14 more stable areas, Iraq's security forces are not capable of maintaining security alone.
   
The statement said the transition of security would "not be based on rigid timelines" and said any transition would be gradual "to ensure continued success of Iraqi governance and security forces".
   
US President George Bush has repeatedly said that he will not be drawn into setting a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, although the senior commander in Iraq, General George Casey, said last month that a substantial draw-down could be expected by this time next year.
   
The US military has about 135,000 troops in the country, and there are around 20,000 troops from nearly a dozen other countries involved in the 'multi-national coalition'.
   
The commission also decided that any draw-down of foreign forces had to be "visible" so Iraqis could see it was happening.
   
Members of the commission are due to meet twice-weekly from now on to develop the process of transition, the first concrete move towards a withdrawal of foreign troops since the invasion of the country in March 2003.
   
The commission said it would finalise the conditions and criteria for the security transition and report to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari by September 26. 

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