US combat mission ends in Iraq

PRIME Minister Nuri al-Maliki said yesterday that Iraq's own soldiers and police were capable of defending a "sovereign and independent" country as American forces ended seven years of combat operations.

A major troop pullout over past months has left less than 50,000 US soldiers in Iraq while a near simultaneous surge in car bombings and shootings, many targeting local security forces, has seen hundreds of people killed.

In a television address to his people, Maliki said he was confident the last American forces would leave the country as planned at the end of 2011, stressing that the Iraqi military and police were firmly in charge.

"This is a day that will remain in the memory of all Iraqis. Today, Iraq has become a sovereign and independent country," he said on state television.

"As of today, our security forces will play the leading role in maintaining the security and defence of our country."

Maliki, who is fighting to cling on to his job despite losing a closely fought March 7 election, declared his belief in soldiers and police who have nevertheless recently failed to prevent attacks that have killed scores.

"I reassure you that the Iraqi security forces are capable of taking full responsibility," he said. "Unfortunately we are facing a campaign of doubt."

US President Barack Obama was to mark the symbolic end of the US combat role in a keynote speech from the Oval Office after visiting a base in Texas to meet returned Iraq veterans.

He was also expected to speak by telephone with former president George W Bush who, backed by key ally Britain, took the decision to invade Iraq in March 2003, ousting dictator Saddam Hussein within weeks.

Speaking on ABC television yesterday, Obama's chief spokesman Robert Gibbs said the change of mission in Iraq provided Americans the opportunity to put behind them one of the most divisive periods in recent history.

"We can thank the men and women who made tremendous sacrifices. We can heal the wounds that were opened ... about whether we should go to Iraq," he said.

"I think what you will hear tonight (are) the steps we have to take here at home to strengthen our security domestically," Gibbs added.

US Vice President Joe Biden landed in Baghdad on Monday night to mark the military's change of focus from combat to training and advisory tasks in support of Iraqi forces, starting from today.

He met President Jalal Talabani and Maliki yesterday and was scheduled to meet other top politicians, including the former premier and recent election winner Iyad Allawi.

More than 4,400 US troops have died in Iraq since the invasion, a number dwarfed by the estimated 100,000 civilians killed, according to Iraq Body Count.

Iraqis seemed unconvinced that the official end of US combat operations would herald an improvement in security.

"If the politicians continue fighting on the chairs, the situation will get worse," said Salah Abu al-Qassim, 36, a trader in Shorja market in central Baghdad.

Biden's trip comes after months of protracted but fruitless coalition negotiations which have yet to result in a new government, causing alarm in Washington.

Tony Blinken, Biden's National Security Adviser, said the current caretaker administration in Baghdad was not a "durable solution."

"There is some growing sense of urgency that government formation move forward, and certainly the vice president is going to urge the leaders to bring this process to a conclusion," Blinken told reporters. Obama declared shortly after taking office last year that the US combat mission in Iraq would end on August 31, 2010, after which American troops would take on a training and advisory role.AFP