Center

US troops turn over Najaf to Iraqis

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-21 07:47

NAJAF, Iraq - US forces ceded control of southern Najaf province to Iraqi police and soldiers, who marked the occasion Wednesday with a parade and martial arts demonstrations. But doubts remain about whether the Iraqis, vulnerable to insurgent attacks and militia infiltration, can handle security in more volatile provinces anytime soon.

Iraqi army soldiers celebrate and raise their rifles during a security control handover ceremony in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006. [AP]

In one of those provinces, Baghdad, police found 76 bodies, some of them blindfolded and handcuffed, on Wednesday. Many of the victims had been shot and some showed signs of torture, a police officer said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. Two suicide car bombings also killed at least 19 people in the capital.

The handover of Najaf came as new Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Baghdad, seeking advice from top commanders on a new strategy for an increasingly unpopular war just two days after taking charge at the Pentagon. Roadside bombs took the lives of two more US soldiers, one in Baghdad and the other southwest of the capital.

Home to 930,000 people, Najaf saw heavy fighting two years ago, but has been relatively peaceful lately. It was the third of Iraq's 18 provinces to come under local control. British troops handed over southern Muthana province in July, and the Italian military transferred neighboring Dhi Qar in September.

Authorities in Najaf city banned vehicles as provincial and tribal leaders and dignitaries gathered in the dusty, blue bleachers of a soccer stadium for the handover ceremony.

About 1,500 police officers, soldiers and security personnel staged a parade around an infield of stubby brown grass, in festivities complete with warriors on horseback.

At one point, a small group of soldiers stepped forward with a live rabbit and tore it to pieces. The leader bit out the heart with a yell, then passed around the blood-soaked remains to his comrades, each of whom took a bite. The group also bit the heads off frogs, as some of those in the crowd held their noses from the stench.

Chewing on live animals is a traditional display of ferocity for elite troops in Iraq and was also observed by special units during Saddam Hussein's rule.