Iraq is preparing for a giant party in a Baghdad park and a special holiday as US troops approach their deadline to quit cities and towns. | Iraqis have held a giant party in a Baghdad park as US troops approach their deadline for withdrawing from cities and towns to their bases. |
American troops are due to withdraw to bases by Tuesday, which has been declared National Sovereignty Day and is a public holiday in Iraq. | Thousands flocked to the capital's Zawra Park to be entertained by musicians and poets, as police patrol cars were festooned with flowers. |
The party is to begin shortly in Baghdad's Zawra Park, with poets and musicians due to entertain the crowd. | US-led combat operations in Iraq are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone by the end of 2011. |
All US troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011. | Iraq has declared Tuesday National Sovereignty Day, a public holiday. |
Combat operations across Iraq are expected to end by September 2010. | Since 2003 [the year of the US-led invasion], I have never been to a party Ahmed Ali Baghdad reveller, 20 |
With Iraqi security forces set to secure their own cities and towns from 1 July, police leave has been cancelled and extra troops have been drafted in. | The country's security forces are set to take over the policing of cities and towns on 1 July. |
| The BBC's defence and security correspondent, Rob Watson, says that while the pull-back is significant, the actual withdrawal of US combat troops next year will pose a greater challenge. |
| Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January. |
| Symbolic hand-over | Symbolic hand-over |
Ahead of the withdrawal deadline, US soldiers are conspicuously absent from many of Baghdad's Shia and Sunni districts, correspondents say. | "Since 2003 [the year of the US-led invasion], I have never been to a party," Ahmed Ali, 20, told AFP news agency as the party got under way in Zawra. |
| A US general handed over the symbolic key to the defence ministry | A US general handed over the symbolic key to the defence ministry |
Streets have been crowded with cars and pedestrians as music blares from city shops. | "But today I am coming to hear the singers I love." |
Iraqi police and soldiers are manning checkpoints, inspecting identity cards and checking vehicles for weapons. | Popular Iraqi singers including Salah Hassan, Kassem Sultan and Abed Falek, who all live abroad, had travelled to Baghdad for the occasion, the agency said. |
"Our expectation is that maybe some criminals will try to continue their attacks," said interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf. | Revellers had to undergo three security checks to enter the park but no-one seemed to complain amid a jubilant atmosphere, where an onstage banner declared that Baghdad's sovereignty and independence had been recovered. |
"That is why orders came from the highest level of the prime minister [Nouri Maliki] that our forces should be 100% on the ground until further notice." | Even policemen joined in the fun, dancing with the party-goers, AFP reported. |
| "Today is the day that we got back our country," said Salim Mohammed, from the sprawling Shia district of Sadr City. |
| Despite the festive mood, Iraqi police and soldiers were manning checkpoints, inspecting identity cards and checking vehicles for weapons. |
| Interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf said he had orders to deploy his forces "100% on the ground until further notice". |
| The former defence ministry building in Baghdad, which was taken over after the 2003 US-led invasion, was handed back to the Iraqi government on Monday. | The former defence ministry building in Baghdad, which was taken over after the 2003 US-led invasion, was handed back to the Iraqi government on Monday. |
| Gen Abboud Qambar, commander of Baghdad Operation Command, received a symbolic key from US Gen Daniel Bolger, commander of US forces in Baghdad. | Gen Abboud Qambar, commander of Baghdad Operation Command, received a symbolic key from US Gen Daniel Bolger, commander of US forces in Baghdad. |
| "This marks the end of the rule of the multi-national force," the Iraqi commander said. | "This marks the end of the rule of the multi-national force," the Iraqi commander said. |
Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January. | Bigger challenge |
| American commanders are describing the withdrawal to base as an important milestone, our correspondent says. |
| Yet it is not a dramatic break because US troops will still be embedded with Iraq's security forces and many American soldiers will remain a short drive away on the cities' outskirts. |
| The pull-back is not without risks, our correspondent adds, and both the Americans and the Iraqis are expecting al-Qaeda and other groups to attempt to re-ignite sectarian unrest. |
| While no-one believes there will be a return to the levels of violence seen a few years ago, the bigger challenge will come next summer when American combat troops are due to be withdrawn, rather than merely redeployed, our correspondent says. |
| He says for that to go well is in the hands of Iraq's political leaders and their ability to tackle the country's many outstanding problems and tensions. |
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Are you attending the celebrations? Send your comments or pictures using the form below. | Did you attend the celebrations? Send your comments or pictures using the form below. |
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| The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published. | The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published. |
