Deborah Haynes, Baghdad
October 08, 2008
THE US is preparing to hand control of Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad to the Iraqi Government in one of the most symbolic examples of the country's increasing sovereignty.
Plans are also under way to turn over swaths of the Green Zone, which surrounds the palace, to the Iraqi authorities, and Iraqi forces are expected to replace US troops at some checkpoints over the next year, according to sources inside the compound.
The plans emerged as two US leaders in Iraq, ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus, were awarded for their work with engineering the success of the troop "surge" strategy.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice awarded the men the State Department's highest honour, The Distinguished Persons Award.
The transition is part of a process in which the Iraqi Government has taken full responsibility for security in 11 of its 18 provinces as its police and army become more competent.
The move also underscores a shift in the relationship between Iraq and the US, which is moving from being an occupying power to having a regular diplomatic presence.
A new US embassy building will be the biggest of its kind in the world.
The Republican Palace, a dust-coloured building with marble corridors and a blue dome on its roof, used to be the seat of Saddam's power.
After the 2003 invasion it became the headquarters of the US-led coalition authority that ruled Iraq, remaining under US control even after power was handed to the transitional Government in June 2004.
Thousands of US, British, Australian and other foreign diplomats, soldiers and contractors work in the palace.
Many people lived at the palace, crammed into caravans around the grounds.
"The move should be completed by the end of the year," US embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said.
"Plans are under way to transfer the property back to the Iraqi Government."
An Iraqi source said that it should happen next year. It is likely that the palace will be used by the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
A large US-led military presence is also based at the palace. It, too, must be relocated before the Iraqi authorities can move in. The US military declined to specify when this was due to happen.
In Washington, Dr Rice applauded Mr Crocker and General Petraeus, as she highlighted the "long road" in Iraq.
"It's been a very, very long road in Iraq. Harder, more difficult, and longer than we would have imagined. Certainly, harder, longer, and more difficult than I personally imagined at its outset," Dr Rice said.
"But that road has turned in a positive direction and the two people that we honour today ... these two people have been a very big part of that story."
Dr Rice described General Petraeus, who has been promoted to head of Central Command in the Middle East and has been replaced in Iraq by his former second in command Raymond Odierno, as "an intellectual warrior and a warrior intellectual".
Dr Rice said Mr Crocker was "a lion of America's foreign service".
October 08, 2008
THE US is preparing to hand control of Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad to the Iraqi Government in one of the most symbolic examples of the country's increasing sovereignty.
Plans are also under way to turn over swaths of the Green Zone, which surrounds the palace, to the Iraqi authorities, and Iraqi forces are expected to replace US troops at some checkpoints over the next year, according to sources inside the compound.
The plans emerged as two US leaders in Iraq, ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus, were awarded for their work with engineering the success of the troop "surge" strategy.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice awarded the men the State Department's highest honour, The Distinguished Persons Award.
The transition is part of a process in which the Iraqi Government has taken full responsibility for security in 11 of its 18 provinces as its police and army become more competent.
The move also underscores a shift in the relationship between Iraq and the US, which is moving from being an occupying power to having a regular diplomatic presence.
A new US embassy building will be the biggest of its kind in the world.
The Republican Palace, a dust-coloured building with marble corridors and a blue dome on its roof, used to be the seat of Saddam's power.
After the 2003 invasion it became the headquarters of the US-led coalition authority that ruled Iraq, remaining under US control even after power was handed to the transitional Government in June 2004.
Thousands of US, British, Australian and other foreign diplomats, soldiers and contractors work in the palace.
Many people lived at the palace, crammed into caravans around the grounds.
"The move should be completed by the end of the year," US embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said.
"Plans are under way to transfer the property back to the Iraqi Government."
An Iraqi source said that it should happen next year. It is likely that the palace will be used by the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
A large US-led military presence is also based at the palace. It, too, must be relocated before the Iraqi authorities can move in. The US military declined to specify when this was due to happen.
In Washington, Dr Rice applauded Mr Crocker and General Petraeus, as she highlighted the "long road" in Iraq.
"It's been a very, very long road in Iraq. Harder, more difficult, and longer than we would have imagined. Certainly, harder, longer, and more difficult than I personally imagined at its outset," Dr Rice said.
"But that road has turned in a positive direction and the two people that we honour today ... these two people have been a very big part of that story."
Dr Rice described General Petraeus, who has been promoted to head of Central Command in the Middle East and has been replaced in Iraq by his former second in command Raymond Odierno, as "an intellectual warrior and a warrior intellectual".
Dr Rice said Mr Crocker was "a lion of America's foreign service".
Source: The Australian
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