British troops hand over control of Basra to Iraqi forces

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Dec 17, 2007, 8:08 GMT

Iraqi forces parade at Basra Palace after the handover ceremony at Basra airport, Basra, Iraq, 16 December 2007. The event was in honour of the handover of the Basra Province from British control into Iraqi hands EPA/BRITAIN MOD / CORPORAL RALPH MERRY RAF / HO / Crown Copyright MANDATORY CREDIT

(M&C) - British forces have officially handed over control of the province of Basra to Iraqi security forces - however the city's police chief has warned of the growing power of local militias.

The handover, after 4 and-a-half years of British control, was marked by a parade along the embankment in Basra and was welcomed by Iraqi security forces and local politicians.

"Today we stand at a historic juncture and a special day, one of the greatest days in the modern history of Basra," said provincial governor Mohammed Mosbah al-Waeliat at a ceremony at Basra airport, the last remaining bastion of British troops in the province.

However in an interview for the Guardian and ITV, Major General Jalil Khalaf, the new police commander, described a different state of affairs.

"They left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world," he said.

It has emerged that British forces inadvertently helped arm the rival militias after supplying weapons to Iraqi security forces, not realising many of the troops had militia allegiances.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband though, while accepting the ongoing problems surrounding Basra, insisted the time was right for withdrawal.

"The key conditions for the transfer of security responsibility to the Iraqi security forces are whether they are up to it: do they have the numbers? Do they have the leadership and training to provide leadership for this province? And the answer to those three questions is yes," he said.