Murder, mayhem and museums - BBC online

Caroline Wyatt - BBC News

While Iraq struggles to return to peaceful normality, the British have been working to restore some of the country's pride in its past - with a museum.

Today, the Basra Palace compound is eerily quiet. A cold winter's wind whips off the Shatt al-Arab waterway, and howls around the marbled palace, almost drowning out the cry of the sea-birds soaring over the reeds in the brackish waters.

Not so long ago, the compound reverberated to the sound of incoming rocket fire from Iraqi insurgents, the Mahdi Army Shia militia, as they fought British forces based at the palace.
British soldiers withdrew from the palace compound in September 2007. Now, the building itself is deserted, and I have to wait for an Iraqi police colonel to turn up with the key.

Built by a Basra oil baron in the 1980s, the palace was requisitioned by Saddam Hussein, although it is not clear if the late dictator ever stayed there.

I had not seen it since April 2003, when a British flag flew triumphantly over the entrance, and British troops - rejoicing in the rapid success of the invasion - explored Saddam's palaces, wide-eyed with wonder at their opulence, and the gold taps in the many bathrooms.

Water, electricity, antiquities
That was in the early days, when the people of Basra offered a warm welcome to their British "liberators". It was before the long years of violence began, and back then the palace itself had been spared the worst effects of battle.

In his mind's eye, John Curtis, keeper of the Middle East department at the British Museum, can already see the site transformed into a museum for Basra's many ancient treasures. Before I left for Basra, I met him in the British Museum's rooms full of Assyrian wall reliefs, and had just enough time to marvel at the exhibition on ancient Babylon, a place not far from today's Basra.

"The front of the palace could have a marvellous fountain and ornamental gardens," he enthuses. He was also the first western expert to see for himself and catalogue the catastrophic effects of looting, battle and ignorance on the archaeological sites of ancient Mesopotamia, now southern Iraq, following the coalition invasion in 2003.

He says he and his Iraqi counterparts at the Baghdad Department for Antiquities, which oversees Iraq's museums, hope the Basra project will come to fruition despite the difficulties that remain.

"They're enthusiastic about the project, and glad we're taking this initiative," he says. "A great deal has been done in Basra in terms of providing water and electricity. But culture is an area which has been largely neglected."

Just a few years ago, the very idea of a new museum in Basra would have been laughable. The focus was on security, and reconstructing the essentials of daily life, such as a working sewage system. Those projects are still not complete, but more than five years on, Basra is indeed a place transformed, with British forces looking to withdraw from the region altogether by the end of July.

Looting
The city is much calmer now, with Iraqi forces handling security while the British focus on training. Car bombs, kidnappings and even murders are down from their peak, even if they have not disappeared entirely. And British troops are even back in the wider Basra Palace complex again, while they mentor the Iraq Army in the city.

The origin of the idea of a new Museum for Basra based at the palace came from Maj Gen Barney White-Spunner, Britain's former commanding officer in southern Iraq, and was taken up with enthusiasm by Mr Curtis and the British Museum.

Basra's collection of antiquities have survived somewhat against the odds. The city's old museum was ransacked during the first Gulf War of 1991, and its valuable collection of vases, terracotta and stone figures, bronze weapons, jewellery and cuneiform-inscribed clay tablets, were moved to the capital, where they were locked in a vault. That's how they escaped the 2003 looting.

As I walk inside Basra's silent palace, I am accompanied by Capt Laurence Roche, of 20th Armoured Brigade, who is helping continue the liaison work. He remembers being there in 2006, and the imposing main room overlooking the Shatt al-Arab waterway, being used as a British Army cook-house, with the rooms upstairs becoming dormitories.

"It's eerie to see the palace so empty, but with all the grandeur of the rooms, and the view... it's not too much of a leap of the imagination to see this as a museum. I know we in the British Army are fascinated by our own history and the ancient history here, because this is one of the cradles of civilisation - with so many treasures. Many of us would like to return in future years and see that in its proper setting," he says.

Recovered treasures
But how do Iraqis feel about the idea? Col Ahmed Abbas Hudea, who let us into the palace, is enthusiastic.

"I would be happy if all of Saddam's palaces were turned into museums for Iraqis to enjoy," he says. "And I hope people would come to visit from across the Arab world, and from Western countries."

In December, Capt Roche had a small glimpse of the kind of treasures the museum could contain one day. He was allowed to film some 200 priceless ancient artefacts, the fruits of a raid by Iraqi security forces on a gang of smugglers who had buried their horde in a Basra back garden. They were destined for private buyers abroad. Capt Roche says it was an Aladdin's cave.

"There were statuettes, just five or six inches high, representing Babylonian kings and Sumerian warriors and princesses. And there was a lamasu - the winged ox that was the symbol of Assyrian strength, and silverware and jewellery. And they had found Babylonian gold, absolutely priceless. It was a spectacular haul."

It is not clear if those artefacts will go into the museum. They are currently being examined by experts in Baghdad, who say Basra is an extraordinary city, with deep-rooted heritage, which deserves a new site for its treasures.

However, they say that their mutual efforts with their British colleagues have been delayed by the need to seek official Iraqi cabinet approval, although they vow to continue to "aspire" to the idea.

So, if the ambitious plans work out, people in southern Iraq should one day be able to enjoy a splendid new setting for their ancient heritage, in a building that symbolises so much of Basra's more recent turbulent history.

Until that day comes, it is still easier for visitors to enjoy many of Iraq's ancient treasures in the British Museum - not least because Basra and Baghdad are not quite back on the tourist trail just yet.

Click here for the article on BBC Online

We will stand tall - Times Online

Michael Portillo need not worry about Britain’s commitment to stay the course in the conflicts of today and tomorrow. We have made clear we cannot allow the Afghanistan government to fail and the country to become once again a haven for Al-Qaeda to launch attacks on the civilised world. The UK’s national security demands that we see this through and we will.

The Iraqi army, thanks to our help and that of the US, can now stand on its own two feet in Basra. This did not happen overnight. It took time and a lot of British help. That time was bought with the commitment and sacrifice of our forces.

The defeat of the militias in Basra in March was an Iraqi triumph - made possible by the British forces who trained them and provided air, medical, logistical, artillery and other vital support during the operation. Our forces have never “withdrawn to barracks”. Barely a day has gone by over the past 15 months when they have not been out on the ground supporting the Iraqis.

American administrations past and present have found us a valuable and reliable ally. I am confident that this will continue to be the case in the future.

John Hutton
MP Secretary of State
Ministry of Defence

For the full piece online click here for the Times online

My week: Keith Mackiggan of DfID - Times Online

Rebuilding Basra with a dollop of help from Ben & Jerry

BACK TO SCHOOL

Every day is a work day in Basra - there’s no weekend. We live at the air base, which is about six miles across the dusty desert from the city, so helicopters are the easiest way to get around. It is my favourite part of life out here: you are skidding 100ft above the ground, swooping over the electricity pylons - it’s exhilarating. Commuting to work will never quite be the same again.

I’ve been living here since September as head of the Department for International Development’s reconstruction team for Basra, in southern Iraq. I spent the beginning of the week visiting some of our projects with my interpreter. He is from Sudan and fled his country about 20 years ago, settling with his family in Manchester. He’s a hero doing fantastic work and we couldn’t really do anything without him.

We touched down at a couple of primary schools for which we’d built eight new classrooms. Before that, there would be up to 100 children in each room; our efforts will cut the class sizes in half.

The children were so cute, dressed in their freshly pressed, gleaming white shirts and chanting their times tables. As we were leaving they shouted out, “Merry Christmas and a happy new year,” in English.

KARAOKE DREAD

As New Year’s Eve approached, I began to get butterflies in my stomach. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Basra hosted a party with karaoke and I was forced on stage. A few weeks ago I played Widow Twankey in a production of Aladdin put on by the British military base and my colleagues now seem to think that I’ve found my vocation as a singer.

It was a beautiful starlit night: there was a kind of Arabian crescent moon in the sky and it was in this setting that I wowed the audience with my rendition of Madonna’s Material Girl. I wasn’t in costume this time, although the party was fancy dress. There were some great outfits - a Christmas present and a policeman - but my favourite was the consul-general who came as a beach bum, sporting an ironing board as a surfboard. There was some cross-dressing, inevitably.

The military clerk, whose name is Corporal Burley - highly appropriate for a a physical training instructor - uses any excuse to get dressed up in drag. Wednesday was no exception.

DEMOCRACY TAKES OFF

There were a few sore heads on New Year’s Day but no time to relax for the Brits on the airbase because it was the day of the handover of Basra international airport. I head a team of about 30 people coordinating efforts to improve infrastructure, train Iraqi officials and attract foreign investment.

The UK has been working with the airport authorities and they are now handling numerous commercial flights each day; indeed, about 5,000 local residents flew to the haj in Saudi Arabia last month. I’m really glad about this because in the past the airport was never used commercially: it was only ever used by Saddam Hussein. To me, that’s democracy in action.

NOW FOR MOZAMBIQUE

Towards the end of the week I flew up to the marshlands, to one of the villages near the Iranian border. The area is neglected and remote but the scenery is stunning. Basra’s army chief, General Mohammed, was in the area recently and was horrified when the villagers told him that he was the first government official they’d seen in 30 years.

We’ll be working up there to create joint community action centres, which will provide access to basic services such as a school and a clinic for the first time.

I always look forward to Friday because that’s when I sit down to dinner with three of the other senior allied officials in Basra. We take it in turns to host the meal in our canteen and last week it was at the Donkey bar at the US consulate, where they have Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. You have to be careful not to get fat out here - the canteen food is so good.

I’ll be leaving Basra at the end of March and will be sad to go. It’s a weird and wonderful place and I feel lucky to be here. I don’t miss much about the UK - apart, perhaps, from cycling. I have a strict luggage allowance and I don’t think I could smuggle a bicycle into my suitcase.

My next posting begins in the summer in Mozambique, but I’ll need to go out there almost immediately to have some language training - everything is done in Portuguese and I’ll need to get fluent in three months flat.

Keith Mackiggan is the head of the Basra provincial reconstruction team for the Department for International Development

To see the full article click here to see it on the Timesonline

Britain hands control of Basra airport to Iraqis - Eurasia Press & News

Britain has formally handed over responsibility for the running of Basra airport to Iraqi authorities, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday, a move that paves the way for Britain to withdraw from Iraq.

The airport, on the outskirts of Iraq’s second largest city in the south of the country, was seized during the U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003.

It has since operated as both a military and a civilian airport, but always been under British military control.

Now, following Thursday’s transfer of authority, Iraqi civilians will be in overall charge of the installation, overseeing both civilian and military operations.

“The Iraqis have been operating their own airport in Basra with minimal involvement from Britain for several months,” said Major General Andy Salmon, the commander of British troops in Iraq.

“From today, they will gain further autonomy, taking over the running of the air traffic control tower… It is clear that Basra International Airport is now an international airport with good potential for future growth.”

Transferring control of the airport was one of three goals Prime Minister Gordon Brown set before Britain could complete its operations in Iraq, where around 4,000 troops remain.

The holding of provincial elections, scheduled for later this month, was another of the goals, and the third was the economic regeneration of Basra and its surrounding provinces.

The remaining 4,000 troops, almost all of whom are stationed at the airport, are due to start withdrawing in the next three months, with the process completed by the end of July, ending a six-year presence.

In the past nine months, Basra has seen steady gains in terms of security and investment, with Shi’ite militia groups far less active in the city and regional businessmen and major international companies seeking out opportunities.

The head of the Basra Development Commission, a British-Iraqi body responsible for drumming up business, believes there could be as much as $9 billion of investment in Basra in the next three years, largely in the oil industry.

Basra, situated not far from the Shatt al-Arab waterway which leads out into the Gulf, has the potential to become a major regional hub, Iraqi and British business leaders say.

As well as the fact that it sits on vast oil reserves, it has a large pool of skilled labor, good research and education establishments and strong transport links, including the airport, which handles 80 to 130 flights a month.

On Thursday, U.S. forces in Iraq came under an Iraqi mandate and in an immediate change, handed over responsibility to Iraqi troops for the Green Zone, a fortified swathe of central Baghdad off limits to most Iraqis, who widely view it as a symbol of foreign military occupation.

To see the full article click here

Sovereign at last - Times

As the Iraqi Government takes over control of the capital, the US readiness to learn from past mistakes is rapidly leading to a more normal country

The formal handover yesterday to Iraqi control of the green zone, the fortified centre of Baghdad, is a defining moment in the long and bloody struggle to bring order and stability to a country wrecked by thirty years of dictatorship and five years of internecine violence. To Iraqis, to Americans and to a sceptical Muslim world, it symbolises a welcome restoration of sovereignty, a recognition of the huge progress made in recent months and a confirmation that democracy is, at last, taking root.

At an emotional ceremony to mark the raising of the Iraqi flag over the entrance to the former palace of Saddam Hussein, Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, declared that the day marked “the beginning of the process to retrieve every inch of our nation's soil”. He is right. And he is right to be proud. Few would have predicted even two years ago that Iraq would overcome the violent sectarian confrontations or that it had any viable future as a unitary state. According to official Health Ministry figures, 16,232 Iraqis were killed in 2007. Last year that total had dropped to 5,379 - less than a third, although still an average of nearly 15 people a day.

The comprehensive military agreement with America, ratified by the Iraqi parliament in November, does more than simply hand over control of the capital's security to the Iraqi Army. It also lays down a timetable for the US troop withdrawal, revokes their power to detain Iraqis without an Iraqi warrant, and subjects contractors and off-duty US soldiers to Iraqi law. Taken together, the measures underline that, from the beginning of this year, the 146,000-strong US force operates in Iraq under the authority of the Baghdad Government and no longer because of the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation. This is of huge psychological importance in restoring national pride, in normalising Iraq's relationships with the US and other Western countries to whom it exports oil and in demolishing al-Qaeda's portrayal of the Iraqi Government as a puppet of Washington.

The handover of the green zone coincides with the expiry of the UN resolution, passed months after the invasion, legitimising US troops in Iraq. That applied equally to the British and the few other remaining forces. Yesterday Britain therefore also surrendered to the Iraqi Transport Ministry control of Basra airport, and a similar handover ceremony was held near to the base where the remaining 4,100 British troops await their final evacuation in July. A handful will stay on as military advisers, and a larger contingent of Americans will also continue to train and advise the Iraqi military. Indeed, the US will withdraw from its present checkpoint duties only gradually, in co-ordination with the Iraqis taking over. This makes political and operational sense.

To those who criticised the US forces' ineptitude, ignorance and naivety that marked the first years of occupation, it may be hard to admit that life has improved so noticeably thanks largely to the American readiness to learn from mistakes. Recent strategy, tactics and local understanding have gone a long way in removing grievances, winning tribal support and isolating the terrorists posing as champions of national liberation.

It is too early, however, to expect recognition or gratitude from most Iraqis. The mood was well symbolised by the journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush. Iraqis will be scarred for years by the terrorism, violence and sectarian hatred that has killed thousands and driven hundreds of thousands into exile. Most people will feel safer and happier only when the bombings cease, the electricity is constant and normal life returns to the streets. Since yesterday, however, they control all Baghdad's streets. The end of Iraq's agony is now in sight.

See the full article on the Timesonline

An Inspiring Journey to Basra - Khaleej Times

ONE early, wintry morning, the usually dozing Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport was abuzz. A number of us were heading to Iraq on a pilgrimage to the holy cities.

I was going alone because doing ziyarat (pilgrimage) is a very personal experience. I have always been inspired by the land of Iraq and its Muslim-related heritage.

We boarded the 160-seater Jupiter Airlines to Basra, which was chartered especially for the group. I began the trip with a short prayer and as the journey progressed everyone became friendly. One shared with me how she came to take this pilgrimage. Another revealed whom she was praying for. Some reminisced about past pilgrimages while I wondered what this expedition had in store for me. Spending two weeks with five million Muslims from far flung countries converging in war-torn Iraq definitely appealed to me as a journalist!

Basra airport definitely takes on an appearance of a civilian airport. Built in 1989, on the lines of the Baghdad airport, its terminal is clad in wall-to-wall marble. During the 2003 invasion, the bombing damaged only the air control tower while the rest of the airport survived. Though the region is said to be under Iraqi control, British military personnel were seen moving around the airport in tandem.

After a fairly long wait, my turn came to get the immigration stamp. “Welcome to Basra,” said the Iraqi immigration officer. “You are an Indian?” he questioned and nodded in approval. “Your name is Arabic. I like it!” he said as he handed over my documents. My first dose of Iraqi hospitality left me thrilled. For Ali, who has been working at the airport for a few years now, his day begins at 8 am when the airport opens. He gets to overlook the cleaning and sanitation of the arrival lounge for the passenger airways. Until last year, he used to clean the separate entrance to the terminal for the military which included 70 Squadron Iraqi Airforce and its 10 planes, which have now retreated to the other side of the airfield.

“Before the war and sanctions, Basra was the most important city in Iraq because of oil. We had many hotels and tourists visiting shrines. The city turned bloody two years back, but now, Alhamdullillah, lots of tourists are coming from the region. We need it to happen for Basra, but security needs to come first,” he said.

The long, cold road north from Basra to Najaf is a journey through the poverty of Iraq. The Kurds whose plight has captured the attention of the world has left the Iraqi Shias completely neglected, despite making up 60 per cent of the country’s population and a ruling coalition government comprising Shias.

This frontline town in southern Iraq has suffered severe damage. It was flattened by air raids during the various wars fought in Iraq and ravaged by civil war, not forgetting Saddam’s brutal repression for 24 years from 1979 to 2003. The weary population in this town lives in fear of health concerns. Hospitals lack basic amenities and depend mostly on humanitarian aid. The scrappy little settlements on the dusty outskirts of Basra are few and far between. The sun rises over the highway north. The army is on the move, making its rusty way to and from Baghdad. There are makeshift resting facilities and barbed wire as soldiers pause for a moment before resuming their duties. I was excited. This was my first security checkpoint. The excitement definitely ebbed as it became tiresome along the way.

A woman British officer got into the bus and examined our passports. An SA80 was slung across her shoulder. Out of the blue, I heard an excited “Hi.” Looking up, surprised I noticed it was not directed at me, but my neighbour who is a British national!

Basra is rich in oil. There is at least one oil field at every 100 kilometres. No wonder the British regiment has plonked itself in the region despite handing it over to the Iraqis.

But it is not war alone that has ravaged Basra and the Shia south. It has a port and a bubbling oil industry, but the south did not share the material benefits of Saddam’s programmes including road building, industrial investment, irrigation projects, and farming improvisation.

There is a network of bridges across the water and canals along the Shatt Al-Arab waterway — the convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This is the port from which Sinbad the Sailor embarked. But everything is destroyed. A lone car or lorry crawls alongside with puffs of cigarette smoke emerging from its window.

The road stretches ahead of me in a long straight line with barren land on either side. The only sign of life is the odd Bedouin herding his sheep.

We speed past concrete barriers and sleeping soldiers at checkpoints and a number of military convoys. It is a journey of around 370 kilometres to Najaf. I feel exhausted and my neighbour is nodding off beside me.

See the article on the Khaleej Times here

UK troops hand back Basra Airport - BBC

British troops have taken a step closer to withdrawing from Iraq with the handover of one of its main airports.

Basra International Airport had been used as a UK military base during the conflict but the Iraqis have now resumed full control.

It came as the UN mandate for US and UK troops - put into place after the invasion in March 2003 - expired.

Iraq will now take greater control of its own security, but US and UK forces will remain under a new deal.

The transfer of the airport at Basra, the country's second biggest city, was one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's remaining key tasks in southern Iraq.

It is clear Basra International Airport is now an international airport with good potential for future growth Major General Andy Salmon Iraq takes control of Green Zone

The transfer of control, marked with a handover ceremony in the airport's VIP lounge, followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by British military commanders and Iraqi transport officials in Baghdad.

Military and civilian aircraft will continue to operate side-by-side at the airport but Iraqi civilians are now in control.

Major General Andy Salmon, general officer commanding of British troops in Iraq, said: "The Iraqis have been operating their own airport in Basra with minimal involvement from the UK for several months," he said.

"From today they will gain further autonomy, taking over the running of the air traffic control tower.

"It is clear Basra International Airport is now an international airport with good potential for future growth."

In December, Mr Brown said British troops would leave Iraq by the end of July 2009.

Military operations are due to end by 31 May and the remaining 4,100 UK service personnel will leave within two months.

For the full article on the BBC website click here

Iraq signs military accords with Britain, Australia - AFP

Baghdad signed on Tuesday military accords with Britain and Australia that give their troops a legal basis to stay in Iraq after the expiry of the UN mandate on December 31, the Iraqi government said.

"With the authority of the government of Iraq given to the defence minister, an agreement was signed with Britain today which will be implemented from the start of the new year until June 30," defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

"A little while ago an agreement was also signed regarding the withdrawal of the Australian forces in Iraq. It was signed between the Iraqi defence minister and the Australian ambassador," Askari said.

The long-awaited agreements come just a day ahead of the expiry of the UN mandate, effectively legalising the presence of non-US foreign troops in the country at the eleventh hour and moving Iraq closer to full sovereignty.

Under the agreement, Britain, which has about 4,100 troops based at Basra airport in southern Iraq, will play only a supportive role in their area.

"British troops will only support, consolidate and develop the Iraqi security forces without having any combat mission. July 31 will be the last day for the withdrawal of the British forces from Iraq," Askari said.

Iraqi defence minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassem Obeidi signed the separate accords with British ambassador Christopher Prentice and Australian ambassador Robert Tyson.

During a visit to Iraq on December 17, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki announced the end of the mission of the British contingent by the end of May 2009, and a total withdrawal by end July 2009.

After British troops leave next year, relations between London and Baghdad will in theory revert to those between any other country.

Read the full article on the AFP website

Iraq and UK agree to let troops stay until July - Reuters

Iraq signed agreements with Britain and Australia on Tuesday for their troops to stay in Iraq for seven months after a U.N. mandate authorizing their presence expires on January 1, Iraq's Defense Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the agreements would take effect on New Year's Day and would require the two countries' combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of July.

Britain has 4,100 troops stationed in Iraq, near the southern oil center of Basra. Australia has 300 troops.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Baghdad said: "I can confirm that we've signed an agreement which gives us all the necessary legal cover that we needed to complete our tasks here."

An Australian embassy official was not able to comment.

Iraq's Presidency Council on Sunday ratified a measure agreed by parliament allowing troops from Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Romania and Estonia and the NATO alliance to stay in Iraq until July 2009.

Bilateral agreements between Iraq and each country still needed to be finalized.

Britain, which sent 46,000 troops to the Gulf as the main U.S. ally in the 2003 invasion, intends to keep about 400 advisers and trainers in the country after the July deadline.

Askari said deals would be signed in the next few days with diplomats from other countries with small numbers of troops in the U.S.-led force in Iraq.

(Reporting by Wisam Mohammed and Peter Graff; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Click here for the Reuters website

Iraq signs foreign troops deals BBC

Iraq has signed deals with Britain and Australia for their troops to stay in the country after a UN mandate expires on 1 January, Iraq's government says.

It says the accords authorise UK and Australian forces to stay until July.

Britain has 4,100 troops based in the southern city of Basra, while Australia has 1,000 soldiers also in the south.

The US - who led the 2003 invasion into Iraq - earlier this year signed a deal with Baghdad allowing its 140,000 forces to stay until the end of 2011.

Apart from the US, UK and Australia, the only countries continuing to provide troops for the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) are El Salvador, Estonia and Romania.

Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said on Tuesday that separate deal with those countries would be signed in the next few days.

See the article on the BBC website

Interview: Amyas Godfrey - C4 News

Jon Snow interviews Amyas Godfrey from the Royal United Services Institute, who as a British Army officer completed two tours of Iraq, one of which was spent training the Iraqi army in Basra.

He went back there as a civilian this summer.

Expiry of UN mandate major step to Iraqi sovereignty - ABC News

Change is coming...a member of the British army climbs on an oil pipe in Basra, 2005. (AFP: Toby Melville)

A newly assertive and somewhat safer Iraq takes a major step towards securing full sovereignty on January 1, when a UN mandate that made legal the presence of foreign troops expires.

The end of the UN mandate put in place soon after the March 2003 US-led invasion means Iraq will take greater control of its own security although foreign forces will remain in the country under separate bilateral agreements.

"The main difference is that UNAMI will increasingly and gradually expect Iraqi security forces to provide security, as in any other sovereign country," Staffan de Mistura, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) envoy, said.

The United States, which supplies 95 per cent of foreign troops in Iraq, recently signed an accord with the Iraqi government which allows its combat forces to remain in the country until the end of 2011.

The Iraqi parliament voted last week also to allow the presence of non-US foreign troops after the UN mandate expiry until no later than July 31, 2009, although it will have to sign each agreement individually.

Iraq's presidency endorsed the proposal on Sunday (local time), clearing the way for Baghdad to sign accords with Britain, Australia, Romania, Estonia and NATO before midnight on December 31, when the UN mandate expires.

El Salvador announced earlier this month that it would withdraw its 200 soldiers at the end of 2008, although the El Salvadoran minister of defence visited Iraq on Sunday to discuss an extension at the request of the Iraqis.

Britain, the next largest member of the US-led coalition, has about 4,100 troops based mainly in Basra in the south, while the other members have only a few soldiers each stationed in Iraq.

"We will first exchange letters then sign agreements," National Security advisor to Iraq's Prime Minister Mowaffak al-Rubaie said, without providing further details.

Under the terms of forces agreement signed with Washington, the United States will hand over on January 1, Saddam Hussein's former official residence to the Iraqi government after occupying the majestic sandstone palace since 2003.

The vast palace, at the very heart of the heavily fortified Green Zone where the Iraqi government and some major western countries' embassies are located, is seen by Iraqis as a symbol of the US occupation.

"Starting January 1, the control and the responsibility for security of the International Zone now resides with the government of Iraq," US military spokesman Major General David Perkins said.

"So they will be the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to things such as checkpoints and the T-walls and all that. Of course it will be done in very close coordination with the coalition forces," Major General Perkins added.

See the full article on ABC.net.au here

Iraq allows British, other foreign troops to stay - CNN

The Iraqi Presidency Council approved a resolution Sunday that will allow non-U.S. foreign troops to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

It was the last step for final adoption of the resolution, which won parliamentary approval Tuesday.

Iraq's main political parties hammered out the resolution a week ago, after an impasse among parliamentary factions threatened to continue beyond the December 31 deadline.

A separate, previously approved agreement authorizes U.S. troops to remain.
Britain has about 4,100 troops in Iraq, the second-largest contingent after the United States, which has about 142,500. Other countries covered under the resolution -- El Salvador, Australia, Romania and Estonia -- have a total of several hundred troops in the country.

See the full report on CNN here

HRH The Duchess of Gloucester visits Iraq

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester becomes the first female member of the Royal Family to visit Iraq.

Plum pudding for one: solitary colonel who flies flag for Britain in far-off land - Times

By M Evans - Times

A colonel in Bangladesh, a military adviser in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and four Royal Navy chaps in Djibouti are among nearly 17,200 personnel who will be representing the Armed Forces on operations over Christmas.

The largest contingent will be the 8,400 serving in Afghanistan. For the 4,100 in Iraq, it will be their last Christmas before the formal withdrawal of British troops attached to Operation Telic in Basra within six months.

The spread of personnel around the world shows that although frontline troops have become increasingly stretched to meet overseas commitments, the Union Jack still flutters on military flagpoles in even the remotest parts of the world.

With the focus on Basra, two defence chiefs have spoken out against what they claim to be the rewriting of history relating to what Britain had achieved in southern Iraq. They rejected the accusation that Britain failed to quell the Shia militia in Basra and had to depend on the combined US and Iraqi Operation Charge of the Knights offensive in March to release the city from the grip of the extremists.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, told the troops serving in Basra, in a special Christmas message, that the transformation of the southern city “represented the culmination of years of effort by the UK Armed Forces”.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, also weighed in, dismissing claims that the British departure from Basra was less than glorious. In an interview with the BBC he said: “The British Army took possession of Basra in 2003 in an extremely skilful and successful campaign and in an ideal world we would probably not have stayed there that much longer . . . We have achieved what we set out to do.”

About 100,000 personnel have served in Iraq since 2003, of whom 178 have lost their lives through hostile action, accidents or disease.

For the full article click here for the Timesonline

Few steps left to finish Iraq-UK troop deal - Reuters

Several steps are needed before Britain and other countries with small troop forces remaining in Iraq can secure final deals permitting their presence after December 31, a British military official said on Wednesday.

The clock is ticking on the U.N. mandate that authorises Britain's 4,100 troops, along with smaller contingents from Australia, Estonia, El Salvador and NATO, to be in Iraq.

A British military spokesman, who asked to go unnamed, said Iraq's president and two vice-presidents must ratify a measure parliament passed on Tuesday empowering the government to take any steps needed to allow the troops to stay through July 2009.

"There will thus be an exchange of letters between each of the governments of the countries who will have troops remaining after 31 December and the government of Iraq," he said.

"These will outline the tasks to be performed, the number of troops and the time lines for withdrawal. This exchange of letters can take place as soon as the law is ratified."

Britain, the main U.S. ally in the 2003 invasion and which once had 45,000 troops in Iraq, intends to keep about 400 advisers and trainers in the country after the July deadline.

With a week left before the U.N. mandate expires, the last-minute manoeuvring was due to parliament's rejection last week of a draft law governing foreign troops.

Lawmakers had argued the law needed to be replaced with some sort of treaty or agreement similar in format to the bilateral pact that Washington concluded with Iraq allowing its 140,000 troops to remain through the end of 2011.

British officials have said they don't expect Britain to whisk its troops, mostly stationed around the southern oil port of Basra, out of Iraq even if there is no agreement by January 1.

(Reporting by Missy Ryan, Editing by Michael Christie)

For the full report click here for the Reuters website

Christmas in Basra: Yuletide for Britain's armed forces - Independent

Turkey, presents, and then a screening of 'The Great Escape': Kim Sengupta reports on the troops' final Christmas in Iraq

British troops will wake up on the last Christmas they spend in Iraq to gunfire, this much they already know. This time, however, it will not be the lethal attacks which they had been receiving for much of their five years of the conflict. Gunfire, in this case, is tea laced with whisky served by their officers and senior NCOs – a long-held custom in the armed forces. Then, after a rare free morning for most, it will be a traditional lunch with roast turkey, Christmas pudding and mince pies.

The overwhelming choice of film to watch after the Queen's speech this year is The Great Escape – to celebrate, say the soldiers, the fact that they are due to be back home by the end of July as the UK ends its engagement in the most bitter and controversial war in recent history.

In Iraq, the furthest shipment of Christmas food has been to al-Qurnah where a British unit is mentoring Iraqi forces. The village, 80 miles north-west of Basra, at the confluence of the rivers Tigris and the Euphrates, is the supposed location of the Garden of Eden.

They and other UK troops embedded with Iraqis will be visited by the commander, Major General Andy Salmon, in the course of the day in "Operation Empty Sack"' – so called because he has no presents to give them apart from reassurance that they will be going home soon. In reality there are no shortages of gifts for the troops, not just from friends and families, but also from general members of the public, with some of the parcels addressed to simply "Soldier in Basra" or "British Forces, Iraq".

Away from the rituals of Christmas, the mood among the British troops was this week quiet and reflective. Most of them have done a number of tours in Iraq and seen the fortune of war change from pensive calm in the aftermath of the invasion, to sustained violence, to the current mood of relative peace since the Shia militias who in effect took over Basra were driven out by Iraqi, American and British forces in an operation called Charge of the Knights.

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment had been deployed four times to the country and took part in fierce fighting against paramilitaries atAl-Amarah, in Maysan province, in 2004 when they took a number of casualties. They are currently based at the Shatt al-Arab Hotel in Basra City, training Iraqi forces.

Sitting under a Christmas tree, Lance Corporal Mathew Bignell, 22, from Southampton, said: "It is difficult to believe that we are having such a quiet Christmas. Up in Al-Amarah, we had action each day, every day.

"We genuinely did not know whether we would survive until the end of the tour. I remember a firefight where bullets were landing just few inches from my feet. We had rockets and mortar rounds landing all around us.

"Now we go out along with the Iraqis and the people are friendly, they come up and talk to you. I must admit I did not think that I would ever see this. But I am very glad that we are leaving when things are getting better. Of course I miss my family at Christmas, but that's the job and they understand that."

Click here for the full article on the Independent website

UK troops in festive mood in Iraq - BBC

By Caroline Wyatt BBC News, in Basra

A group of recruits stand stiffly to attention at their passing-out parade on a parade ground in the centre of a burnt-out, bombed military academy in Basra.

Their uniforms are a hotch-potch of different desert camouflage, but all stand with pride as they are awarded their end-of-course medals.

These are Iraqi soldiers, junior NCOs (non-commissioned officers), passing out under the watchful eyes of their British army mentors from the Queen's Royal Hussars (QRH), who look on with equal pride.

"They're every bit as good as some of ours - and some of them are better," says the Regimental Sergeant Major Ian Hammond.

Few of the young Iraqis speak much English, but the two sides seem to share a common military language.

There is a real sense of achievement here, and mutual respect between two armies which only five years ago stood to fight against one another.

British back-up

The training of Iraq's new army will be one of Britain's lasting legacies in Basra.
One recruit, Sgt Adel al-Baidhani, even wants his British mentors to stay on longer.

His ears were cut off on the orders of Saddam Hussein as a punishment for deserting the Iraqi army in the 1990s. A British plastic surgeon later helped repair the damage, offering pioneering surgery.

Sgt al-Baidhani has just been given the passing-out prize for being the best young sergeant. He was keen to join the new army.

"The Iraqi army is strong now, and it has good leadership but it's not ready to defend the country on its own yet.

For the full article click here for the BBC website

Iraq allows British troops to stay - Reuters

Iraq's parliament approved a measure on Tuesday that clears the way for troops from Britain, Australia and a handful of other nations to stay in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end, a senior lawmaker said.

A vote on the measure was delayed for several days by squabbling in the parliament, whose speaker resigned just before Tuesday's vote after angering some politicians with his brash style and insults in a session last week.

"We authorize the government to take all necessary steps regarding foreign forces other than U.S. forces," said deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiya. He said the measure approved would allow the troops to stay in Iraq through the end of July 2009.

Forces from Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Romania and Estonia and NATO have been awaiting a new arrangement to legalize their presence in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires in little over a week.

Lawmakers said the resolution empowered the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to strike a deal with these countries permitting their troops to stay, without that deal having to go back to parliament for further scrutiny.

"What happened today is parliament giving its authorization to the government to make such a deal," legislator Jaber Habeeb Jaber told Reuters.

He added parliament could do this because the likely agreement sought by the government would be a memorandum of understanding rather than a full blown pact or treaty.

For the full article click here for the Reuters website

CHRISTMAS CHEER DELIVERED BY BASRA PERSONNEL

The Father Imad al Banna children’s schools of Basra received proceeds earned by a multi-national cast who played in the pantomime ‘Aladdin’ during 6 / 7 December, acted out by members of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Basra, Iraq on 24 December 2008.

The cheque for $8300 was presented to Father Imad by the Consulate General, Mr Nigel Haywood, in a short presentation in central Basra on Thursday 24th December 2008.

Father Imad said:

“This is very good for the church and the children of Basra – we thank you very much”

The proceeds from the pantomime and the accompanying raffle will go to provide toys, medications, and food for poor children at the schools in Basra.

The Father Imad Al Banna children’s school has three facilities throughout the Basra area with about 540 students. The students, whose ages range from 3 to 5, are from varied backgrounds and learn to live and grow together as part of their experience at the school.

Although Father Imad is the Chaldean Archbishop for Basra, the school accepts children of all faiths and economic status.