By Country / Iraq
Iraqis Formally Take Control Of Al-Najaf
December 20, 2006
A member of the Iraqi security forces at a checkpoint in Al-Najaf (file photo) (epa)
Speaking at a ceremony in the provincial capital of Al-Najaf, Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i and a U.S. commander, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, called the transfer a "historic" event.
Al-Najaf, which is home to Iraq's most influential Shi'ite Muslim clerics, is the third of Iraq's 18 provinces to be transferred to local control.
(AP, AFP)