Iraqis take control of Qadisiyah province

DIWANIYA, Iraq, July 16 (UPI) -- U.S. military forces handed over security responsibility to their Iraqi counterparts in a ceremony Wednesday in Iraq's southern Qadisiyah province.

Local Iraqi officials had imposed a curfew in the area for Tuesday but lifted it Wednesday morning following the security transfer from U.S. military officials, Voices of Iraq reported.

"The local government decided to lift the curfew from 11 a.m. on Wednesday after receiving the security file from the Multi-National Force-Iraq," Hussein al-Bederi, a local security chief, said.

Qadisiyah Gov. Hamed al-Khudari attended the transfer ceremony Wednesday morning in the provincial capital, Diwaniya, along with Iraqi national security adviser Muwafaq al-Rubaie.

U.S. military officials scheduled the transfer for late June but delayed that event citing poor weather conditions and issues relating to the central Iraqi government.

U.S. and Iraqi officials made the transfer decision based on an assessment of the readiness of Iraqi military forces and the improved security situation in the province, a joint statement from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said.

"For the past two months, Iraqi security forces in Qadisiyah have been operating independently and demonstrated their readiness to assume responsibility for the provincial security. Today this responsibility is theirs," the statement read.

Qadisiyah is the 10th of the 18 Iraqi provinces to have Iraqi military forces assume responsibility from U.S. forces.