Control of south-central Iraq handed over to Poles

The US has handed military control over a huge swathe of Iraq to a Polish commander during a ceremony in the ruins of an amphitheatre built by Alexander the Great near Babylon.

In Najaf, meanwhile, the increasingly powerful brother of slain Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim said Shiites would not take up arms against the US-led occupation force, but suggested his Badr Brigade had been rearmed – in defiance of coalition orders – to “defend ourselves”.

Abel-Aziz al-Hakim, a member of the US-picked Governing Council and his brother’s successor as chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq also told reporters it still was not known who was behind the huge car bombing in Najaf that killed the ayatollah and between 85 and 125 others at the close of Friday prayers.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, the interim Governing Council swore in 17 members of the newly-appointed 25-member Cabinet that will begin taking over many of the day-to-day duties of governing the country from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Eight members were out of the city and could not attend. Each Cabinet member will have a US adviser.

Military control was ceremoniously passed to the Poles in a 31,000-square mile belt of Iraq south of Baghdad. Their assigned zone includes the towns of Najaf, Karbala and Hilla and a region extending to the Iranian border.

But the handover of Najaf was delayed at least two weeks because of the car bombing outside the Imam Ali shrine.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, said US Marines would be needed for a few more days. He said the Americans would review the situation in Najaf about mid-month, and hoped then to hand the city over to a Spanish brigade from the international force.

“It’s absolutely clear to a military commander that the most vulnerable period is when he is in a period of transition,” he told reporters after the ceremony. “We will reassess the situation in about two weeks. … We hope at that point to complete the transfer of authority.”

The Polish military is leading the 9,500-strong international force that includes troops from 21 countries.

Seventeen countries are providing troops to the international force for the south-central part of the country ranging from Latvia to Mongolia. Four other countries are providing logistical support.

Major General Andrzej Tyszkiewicz, commander of the international force, said his troops would not be occupiers.

“Even though we have different uniforms and different flags, we are unified by one purpose. That purpose is to help the Iraqi people wipe out the traces of Saddam Hussein’s monstrous dictatorship and build a new basis of peaceful existence.”