Caldwell: Complete Iraqi security control by end of year

Members of Iraq's security forces holding up a poster of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr

BAGHDAD, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. commanders in Iraq expect to have handed over full control of the country's security and armed forces to the Iraqi authorities by the end of this year, a U.S. general said on Wednesday.

Major General William Caldwell, a spokesman, also told a news conference that Iraq's military and police planned to buy hundreds of armoured vehicles, as well as helicopters, under a $150 million agreement signed last month with the United States.

Describing 2007 as the "Year of Transition", Caldwell said that by summer all 11 Iraqi army divisions to have been formed by that time would be directly under the command of the Iraqi government and by autumn all of Iraq's 18 provincial governors would be in charge of security in their regions.

"By the end of this year, the dynamics will be entirely different," he said.

The timetable he sketched out is longer than one Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki forecast after he took office eight months ago, when he said Iraqi control of the divisions and provinces could be complete by the spring or summer.

However, it is in line with remarks in recent months by General George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, about when he believes Iraqi forces will be able to cope largely without U.S. help.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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