Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities today after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the US combat role in the country.

Barack Obama may say change is on the way, but many Iraqis aren’t counting on an immediate shift in US policy toward their country when the Democrat takes office as US president.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says US troops should leave the country "as soon as possible", according to a magazine report.

US and Iraqi forces arrested one of Muqtada al-Sadr’s top aides yesterday in Baghdad, his office said, as pressure increased on the radical Shiite cleric’s militia ahead of a planned security crackdown in the capital.