Iraq's parliament voted Saturday to give jobs back to thousands of former supporters of Saddam Hussein's Baath party who were fired after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The long-delayed bill is the first of several major changes in Iraqi law sought by the Bush administration with the goal of easing ethnic and religious tensions. The 275-seat parliament is still deadlocked over how to share the country's oil profits, constitutional amendments demanded by minority Sunni Arabs, and a bill spelling out rules for local elections.

The bill, approved Saturday by a unanimous show of hands, seeks to relax restrictions on the rights of members of the now-dissolved Baath party to fill government posts.

The sharp drop in violence that has accompanied the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq has given the war-torn country a rare opportunity for stability, analysts said on Wednesday.

The panel of independent experts on Iraq told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that the fragile successes of recent months in Iraq could easily unwind if the United States is unwilling to maintain a large troop presence in the Gulf region for years to come.

"We may have an opportunity in Iraq that has not been available since 2003 to stabilize the country and avert the downside risks of failure," Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign relations told the House Armed Services hearing.

They said the current lull in violence could be exploited to hold provincial elections that would help ease friction between elected officials and tribal sheikhs.

They also recommended expanding cease-fire agreements, like the ones that have bought relative calm to previous hotspots such as Anbar province, into northern provinces.

But the analysts said a stable Iraq was less likely to resemble a model democracy than modern-day Bosnia or Kosovo, both volatile countries with substantial international civilian and military presences.

The hearing by the Armed Services Oversight and Investigations subcommittee was held to examine U.S. options at a time when the Bush administration is scheduled to withdraw about 20,000 troops from Iraq by mid-summer.

The brigades were the extra forces sent a year ago to quell sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites. There are currently about 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Lawmakers were told that the 60 percent drop in violence last year was due largely to Sunni tribal leaders' backing of the U.S. military against al Qaeda in Iraq and radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's call for loyal Shi'ite militiamen to stand down.

Those developments, combined with an apparent reduction of Iranian support for violent Shi'ite militias, have altered the calculus of sectarian differences in the country and cast the U.S. mission in a more positive light, they said.

"While the U.S. presence may have stoked insurgent violence in Iraq between 2003 and 2006, the U.S. is, for now, a force for stability," said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Lawrence Wilkerson, one-time chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, praised the competence of U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker in tackling Iraq's problems.

But he said the U.S. chances of building on recent success would be severely limited by the time President George W. Bush's successor takes office a year from now because of personnel strains on the Army and the burden of $11 billion in costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"To continue to put this money in at the rate we're putting it out now, or even close to the rate we're putting it out now, is going to be virtually impossible," Wilkerson said.

"That's another constraint on the time we have left remaining to exploit these opportunities that we've got."

(Editing by Stuart Grudgings)

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Attacks by insurgents and rival sectarian militias have fallen up to 80 percent in Baghdad and concrete blast walls that divide the capital could soon be removed, a senior Iraqi military official said on Saturday.

Lieutenant-General Abboud Qanbar said the success of a year-long clampdown named "Operation Imposing Law" had reined in the savage violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs dominant under Saddam Hussein.

"In a time when you could hear nothing but explosions, gunfire and the screams of mothers and fathers and sons, and see bodies that were burned and dismembered, the people of Baghdad were awaiting Operation Imposing Law," Qanbar told reporters.

Qanbar pointed to the number of dead bodies turning up on the capital's streets as an indicator of success.

In the six weeks to the end of 2006, an average of 43 bodies were found dumped in the city each day as fierce sectarian fighting threatened to turn into full-scale civil war.

That figure fell to four a day in 2008, in the period up to February 12, said Qanbar, who heads the Baghdad security operation.

"Various enemy activities" had fallen by between 75 and 80 percent since the security plan was implemented, he said.

To demonstrate how life had improved, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki toured parts of the city on Saturday, visiting Iraqi forces and checkpoints.

"He wanted ... to send a message to the terrorists that security in Baghdad is prevailing now," one official said.

Central to the success has been the erection of 12-foot (3.5-meter) high concrete walls that snake across the city.

The walls were designed to stop car bombings blamed on al Qaeda that turned markets and open areas into killing fields.

Qanbar said he hoped the walls could be taken down "in the coming months" and predicted the improved situation in Baghdad would translate to greater security elsewhere.

The U.S. military says attacks have fallen across Iraq by 60 percent since June on the back of security clampdowns and the deployment of 30,000 extra American troops.

FRAGILE RELATIONSHIP

Vital to the fall in violence was also a decision by Sunni Arab tribal leaders to turn against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda in late 2006 and form neighborhood security units, which man checkpoints and provide tips on militant hideouts.

However, their relationship with Iraqi authorities remains tense. The Shi'ite-led government is wary of the units, called "concerned local citizens" (CLCs) by the U.S. military and whose ranks includes former Sunni Arab insurgents.

"Everyone should know, that the official security forces represent the country. And it is the one side that has the right to bear arms and impose security," Qanbar said.

In a sign of the tensions, one CLC group said it was suspending its activities after three members were killed in an incident near the town of Jurf al-Sukr, south of Baghdad.

The unit blamed American soldiers for Friday's deaths. The U.S. military said attack helicopters had responded with rockets after security forces came under small-arms fire. It said the incident was under investigation but gave no further details.

The CLCs number some 80,000 mainly Sunni Arabs. Qanbar said Baghdad was working on compensating victims of mistakes by the Iraqi army and multi-national forces in Iraq.

While Iraqi and U.S. officials laud the security gains, humanitarian groups say it is still too early to encourage around 2 million refugees who fled Iraq to return home.

"The plight of Iraqi refugees will end with national reconciliation," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told reporters during a visit to Baghdad.

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden, Mohammed Abbas and Ahmed Rasheed, Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Robert Woodward)

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed a new chapter in ties with Iraq and took a jab at the United States over its policies in the Middle East during a landmark visit to Baghdad on Sunday.

Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian president to go to Iraq since Saddam Hussein launched an eight-year war on Iran in 1980, in which 1 million people died. He is also the first leader from the region to visit since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

His two-day trip to a country where its long-time enemy the United States has more than 150,000 troops is as much about symbolism as about cementing economic and cultural ties between the neighbors, both run by Shi'ite majorities.

He rejected long-standing U.S. accusations, repeated by President George W. Bush on Saturday, that Iran is arming Shi'ite militias in Iraq who kill American soldiers.

"We tell Mr. Bush that accusing others will increase the problems of America in the region and will not solve them," Ahmadinejad said in translated remarks at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"The Americans have to understand the facts of the region. Iraqi people do not like America."

Ahmadinejad met Maliki at the prime minister's office in the Green Zone -- the U.S.-protected central Baghdad compound that houses government ministries, parliament and the U.S. embassy -- under the almost constant drone of U.S. military helicopters.

U.S. officials in Baghdad have said they will play no role in Ahmadinejad's visit and that the U.S. military will not be involved in protecting him unless they are asked for help.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Rob McInturff said: "The Iranians and the Iraqis share borders -- they are free to develop their own relationships."

Ahmadinejad said at an earlier news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that his visit would open a new chapter in relations with Iraq and help regional cooperation.

"A visit to Iraq without the dictator is a truly happy one," he said, referring to Saddam, who was executed by the Iraqi government in December 2006.

Ironically, his trip was only made possible by the U.S.-led invasion. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for U.S. forces to leave Iraq, blaming them for sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since 2003.

"A developed, powerful and united Iraq is to the advantage of everyone," said Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

EXPELLING REBELS

Talabani said Iraq would seek to oust the Iranian rebel Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK) group, a long-time Iranian demand that was expected to be raised during Ahmadinejad's visit.

"The presence of those terrorists is forbidden by the constitution and we are working to get rid of them," he said.

The U.S. military said in a statement, however, that it was not aware of any armed or organized MEK group in Iraq. It said its fighters had disarmed during the U.S.-led invasion and now lived in a camp with "protected persons" status.

Many of Iraq's Shi'ite leaders were in exile in Iran during Saddam's long rule and analysts say Ahmadinejad will use his visit to show Washington that Tehran is an influential player in Iraq that cannot be ignored.

The Iranian president has also sought to counter U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran over its nuclear program by trying to improve ties with Arab states in the region.

His visit comes a day before an expected U.N. Security Council vote on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but the United States says is for nuclear arms.

Pomp and ceremony greeted Ahmadinejad on his arrival, the fanfare a stark contrast to Bush's rushed and secretive visits.

Ahmadinejad held hands with Talabani as they walked down a red carpet as a military band played their countries' national anthems. It was Iraq's first full state welcome for any leader since the U.S.-led invasion.

Ahmadinejad's motorcade drove from Baghdad's airport to Talabani's presidential palace. Visiting foreign dignitaries normally fly by helicopter to avoid the dangerous airport road.

Scattered protests were held in Baghdad and towns with sizeable Sunni Arab populations against Ahmadinejad's visit.

(Additional reporting by Dean Yates, Ahmed Rasheed, Aseel Kami, Mariam Karouny, Paul Tait and Mohammed Abbas; Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by Alison Williams)

Iran's firebrand president wrapped up his landmark visit to Iraq with a bit of added swagger Monday_ insisting that U.S. power is crippling the region and portraying himself as the enduring partner of Baghdad's Shiite-led government.

The parting words and posturing — like nearly every moment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two-day trip — was powerful political theater seeking to emphasize Iran's growing bonds with its former enemy. U.S. officials had a front row seat.

Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian leader to visit Iraq since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, had no direct dealings with American envoys or the military. But Washington and its Sunni Arab allies were high on his agenda — taking every opportunity to send messages about Shiite Iran's rising influence in the region and its special ties to Iraq's Shiite majority.

For Washington, however, this is not a new lesson.

The toppling of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-heavy regime opened the door for Iran's inroads into the nation it battled during a horrific 1980-88 war that claimed an estimated 1 million lives. The United States — despite having no diplomatic ties with Tehran and accusing Iran of aiding Shiite militias — opened groundbreaking dialogue with Iranian officials last year that acknowledged the Islamic Republic as a critical player in Iraq.

The next step — from the vantage point of Washington and its Iraqi allies — is seeing whether Ahmadinejad's visit translates into a clearer Iranian role in helping stabilize Iraq at a time when violence is dropping and insurgents are under increasing military pressure.

"Iraq and Iran having been deadly enemies, and (Ahmadinejad's visit) shows they have turned a page," said Rand Corp. analyst and former U.S. diplomat James Dobbins.

Iraq's Shiite power bases — both in top posts and on the streets — will be the most closely watched barometers for any possible changes following the visit.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, may now have a more direct pipeline to Tehran for dialogue on Shiite trouble spots. Among the top worries: keeping a lid on Shiite factions clashing for control in the oil-rich south and breakaway Shiite groups that Washington accuses of receiving aid from Iran.

Iran already has appeared to cut its backing for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who directs the vast Mahdi Army militia. Instead, Tehran has thrown its weight behind al-Sadr's rival, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the country's most powerful Shiite political insider and supporter of al-Maliki's government.

Ahmadinejad met with al-Hakim during his visit. In front of live TV crews, Ahmadinejad also held hands and exchanged kisses with the president, Talabani, who told Ahmadinejad to call him "Uncle Jalal."

While the U.S. military has said the flow of Iranian weapons into Iraq has slowed, it has stepped up its accusations that Iran is backing so-called "special groups" — the term for Shiite factions that have broken away from al-Sadr and are responsible for a flurry of deadly rocket attacks recently.

At the United Nations, meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council approved a third round of trade sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment that Washington and others worry could be part of a clandestine nuclear arms program. Iran claims it only seeks energy-producing reactors.

Ahmadinejad repeatedly referred to Iraq as a "brotherly" neighbor, but showed no gentler side toward Baghdad's American allies. He blamed the United States for spreading terrorism in the region, demanded the United States withdraw its forces and dismissed allegations that Tehran is training Shiite militants who target U.S. troops.

"The presence of foreigners in the region has been to the detriment of the nations of the region," Ahmadinejad said during a news conference. "It is nothing but a humiliation to the regional nations."

He even took a swipe at President Bush for the tight security bubble around his visits to the country.

Unlike Bush's trips to Iraq, Ahmadinejad announced his journey in advance, drove in a motorcade down Baghdad's airport road_ once known as "The Highway of Death" — spent the night and even traveled to a Shiite holy shrine in northern Baghdad, albeit under the cover of night.

"The visits should be declared and open. And all those who come on stealth visits, we should ask them why they visit this country in a stealth manner?" Ahmadinejad said.

Despite the beefed-up Iraqi security in some parts of Baghdad for Ahmadinejad's visit, at least 24 people were reportedly killed in two suicide car bombings in different parts of the city, police and hospital officials said. The U.S. military reported 11 people had died in the attacks. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

U.S. officials have tried to brush aside the significance of Ahmadinejad's visit, and the White House on Monday disputed Ahmadinejad's statement that Iran was not aiding terrorists.

"Nice words for him to say in the middle of Baghdad, but the facts on the ground prove otherwise," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for Bush's National Security Council, told reporters traveling with Bush back to Washington.

Richard Russell, who lectures on national security at the National Defense University, also raised suspicions about Iranian motives.

Iran's agenda includes establishing "a clandestine infrastructure in Iraq," and Tehran is "planning to have more influence domestically inside Iraq as Americans downsize their presence," he said.

Some Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites, say it is precisely that influence — and the power struggle between the Washington and Tehran — that worries them.

About 1,000 protesters in a Sunni-dominated neighborhood in Baghdad protested Ahmadinejad's visit Monday, a day after scattered demonstrations greeted his arrival.

"We do not want our country to pay the price of the current U.S.-Iraq disputes. The Iraqis' decisions should be independent and not tied to any other country," said Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.

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Five years after U.S. and British forces swept into Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis are asking if the violence and upheaval that turned their lives upside down was worth it.

The human cost is staggering -- anywhere between 90,000 and 1 million Iraqi civilians killed, according to various estimates; nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead; while 4 million Iraqis are displaced.

On the bright side, Iraqis are rid of one of the 20th century's most ruthless dictators. They held free elections and have a new constitution.

For Iraqis, deciding if the invasion was worth the sacrifice depends partly on their sect and ethnicity and where they live.

Saddam, a Sunni Arab, persecuted the country's majority Shi'ites and Kurds. Shi'ites now hold the reins of power while once-dominant Sunni Arabs have become marginalized.

In Baghdad, epicenter of a sectarian war in 2006 and 2007 that nearly tore Iraq apart, people long for the safe streets of Saddam's era. In the Shi'ite south, they no longer fear Saddam's henchmen, but rival Shi'ite factions competing for influence.

In the north, the economy of largely autonomous Kurdistan is flourishing in a region that Kurds call "the other Iraq."

Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, said Iraq was moving in the right direction. Those who felt the invasion was a mistake should remember Saddam's atrocities, he said.

Zebari said proof that a majority of Iraqis supported the overthrow of Saddam was their participation in 2005 elections.

"The brutality of Saddam's regime deformed society in many ways so we have to be patient," he told Reuters in an interview.

"Compared to the experience of other nations I think we have done very well. But yes, it has been very, very costly."

Um Khalid, a 40-year old Baghdad hairdresser, said violence was so random that no one knew if they would be its next victim.

"No, no, no. What happened was not worth it. Those who say things are better are lying," she said.

KILLED OVER THEIR NAME

Many Iraqis vividly recall the chaotic months after the invasion on March 20, 2003, symbolized by the toppling of a big statue of Saddam in central Baghdad.

Their euphoria at new freedoms and hopes the United States would transform Iraq into another rich Gulf Arab state were dashed as Sunni Arabs rose up against their new rulers and car bombs turned markets and mosques into killing fields.

In February 2006, suspected al Qaeda militants blew up a revered Shi'ite mosque in the town of Samarra, unleashing a wave of sectarian violence that meant being a Shi'ite or a Sunni in the wrong neighborhood could be a death sentence.

"Before 2003, we lived under a tough regime, no one can deny that," said Abu Wasan, 55, a former army brigadier-general and a senior member of Saddam's disbanded Baath party.

"But at least we never heard of bodies getting dumped on garbage just because people had a Sunni or a Shi'ite name."

The worst of the sectarian carnage is over, at least for now. A year ago, police would find up to 50 bodies in the streets of Baghdad each day. That number has dropped to single digits thanks to the deployment of additional U.S. troops and ceasefires by many Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs militants. Also in many Baghdad areas ethnic cleansing has already been completed.

GRIM NUMBERS

The latest tolls from the widely cited human rights group Iraq Body Count show up to 89,000 civilians have been killed since 2003. Research conducted by one of Britain's leading polling groups, however, puts the death toll at 1 million.

The U.S. military death toll stands at 3,975.

Other statistics make for grim reading.

The United Nations estimates 4 million Iraqis are struggling to feed themselves while 40 percent of the country's 27 million people have no safe water. The Iraqi doctors' syndicate says up to 70 percent of specialist doctors have fled abroad.

Iraq's national power grid, devastated by years of war and sanctions, leaves millions in the dark. The country has the world's third largest reserves of oil, but motorists sometimes queue at petrol stations for hours.

"I have been in this queue since dawn waiting to fill my car," said Abdullah Ahmed, 53, a taxi driver in the northern city of Kirkuk, which sits atop huge reserves of oil.

"What democracy? What prosperity? When the statue fell, we thought we would live like the Gulf, but that was just words."

People with such views are overlooking the joy of speaking freely, said Ahmed Sebti, 39, owner of a kebab restaurant in the southern Shi'ite city of Najaf.

In the past, making fun of Saddam could have deadly consequences. The current president, Jalal Talabani, has a keen sense of humor and loves satire.

"Before, civil servants couldn't eat kebabs. Now my income depends on them. Living standards are better," said Sebti.

Some Iraqis fear the invasion has set into motion political forces that could lead to the partition of Iraq into Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish regions -- a prospect that would inevitably be bloody and may drag in neighboring countries.

But Iraq is no longer a threat to its neighbors.

It is also one of the few countries in the region to hold free elections, something unheard of in neighboring Gulf Arab countries. Provincial elections that could redraw Iraq's political map are expected later this year.

Sheikh Fatwa al-Jerboa, a Sunni Arab tribal leader in the northern city of Mosul, said there was plenty to be happy about.

"I feel grateful to the British and Americans for ousting this dreadful dictator. Now we enjoy freedom of speech and the freedom to choose our own leaders," he said.

Yousif Kamil, 25, in the northern city of Baiji, disagreed.

"It was a big mistake by America. We will remember it as they remember Vietnam," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Wisam Mohammed and Aseel Kami in Baghdad, and reporters in Basra, Najaf, Ramadi, Kirkuk, Baiji and Mosul; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's faltering crackdown on Shiite militants has won the backing of Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties that fear both the powerful sectarian militias and the effects of failure on Iraq's fragile government.

The emergence of a common cause could help bridge Iraq's political rifts.

The head of the Kurdish self-ruled region, Massoud Barzani, has offered Kurdish troops to help fight anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

More significantly, Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi signed off on a statement by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and the Shiite vice president, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, expressing support for the crackdown in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.

Al-Hashemi is one of al-Maliki's most bitter critics and the two have been locked in an acrimonious public quarrel for a year. Al-Hashemi has accused the prime minister of sectarian favoritism and al-Maliki has complained that the Sunni vice president is blocking key legislation.

On Thursday, however, al-Maliki paid al-Hashemi a rare visit. A statement by al-Hashemi's office said the vice president told al-Maliki that "we can bite the bullet and put aside our political differences."

"The main aim at this critical juncture is to ensure that our political choices are made in Iraq's interest," al-Hashemi said.

Shiite militias were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Sunni Arabs in the sectarian bloodletting of 2006 and 2007. The Mahdi Army is blamed for much of the killing.

A top leadership council made up of Talabani, al-Maliki and leaders of major political blocs called Saturday on Iraqi parties to disband their militias or risk being barred from contesting elections and participating in political life.

The council also affirmed its support for al-Maliki's campaign against militias and "outlaws."

"I think the government is now enjoying the support of most political groups because it has adopted a correct approach to the militia problem," said Hussein al-Falluji, a lawmaker from parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc, the three-party Iraqi Accordance Front. Al-Hashemi heads one of the three, the Iraqi Islamic Party.

The Accordance Front pulled out of al-Maliki's Cabinet in August to protest his policies. The newfound support over militias could help al-Maliki persuade the five Sunni ministers who quit their posts to return.

If he succeeds, that would constitute a big step toward national reconciliation, something the U.S. has long demanded.

Still, the Sunnis are looking for concessions from al-Maliki, whom they accuse of monopolizing power.

"The mission ahead is clear," al-Hashemi's office said in an April 2 statement. "There must be a national program that obliges everyone to reconsider, show flexibility, accept the others and ... work in the spirit of one team."

Whether that happens depends largely on how the government deals with the issue of Shiite militias.

The Basra crackdown, ostensibly waged against "outlaws" and "criminal gangs," bogged down in the face of fierce resistance and discontent in the ranks of government forces. Major combat eased after al-Sadr asked his militia to stop fighting last Sunday.

But al-Maliki continued his tough rhetoric, threatening to take his crackdown to the Mahdi Army's strongholds in Baghdad. Al-Sadr hinted at retaliation, and the prime minister backed down, freezing raids and arrests targeting the young cleric's supporters.

Barzani, the Kurdish leader, has been at sharp odds with al-Maliki's government over what he sees as its lackluster reaction to Turkish military moves against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. The Kurds are also angry over the national government's opposition to Kurdish deals with foreign oil companies.

But the Kurds, for years Washington's most reliable allies in Iraq, also see the Sadrists' anti-U.S. fervor as a threat to the country's political process and its stability.

Al-Sadr is openly opposed to a federal system, arguing that carving up the country into self-rule regions similar to that in Kurdistan would lead to Iraq's breakup. Another source of tension with the Kurds is the Sadrists' vehement opposition to Kurdish claims to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which they want to annex to their region over the opposition of its Arab and Turkomen residents.

"I think the events in Basra will help bridge the gap between the central government and Kurdistan authorities," said Fouad Massoum, a senior Kurdish lawmaker.

Al-Maliki has sought to cast himself as a national leader who is above the country's sectarian divide, saying that he was going after "outlaws" and "criminal gangs" regardless of their sect, ethnicity or party links.

But other motives may have played a role in the crackdown.

Provincial elections are scheduled to be held before Oct. 1 and Shiite parties are gearing up for a tough contest in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq, where oil-rich Basra and the wealthy religious centers of Najaf and Karbala are prizes.

A successful crackdown in Basra would have boosted the election chances of al-Maliki's Dawa party and his Shiite allies in the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, whose Badr Brigade militia is the Mahdi Army's sworn enemy.

The Supreme Council hopes to win the fall vote so it can form a self-ruled region similar to the Kurdish one in the north — something the Sadrists oppose. Key council figures also want the crackdown to continue — even at the risk of a new round of fighting.

"He must impose the law on everyone, and he (al-Maliki) told us this is his intention," said Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, a hardline cleric associated with the Supreme Council, a close ally of Iraq's Kurds. "We reject any deals or negotiations."

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Hamza Hendawi has covered Iraq for the AP on numerous assignments since January 2003. AP reporters Sameer N. Yacoub and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

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At least 925 people have been killed in clashes between militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's Sadr City that began last month, a senior Iraqi official told reporters on Wednesday.

Another 2,605 people have been wounded in the firefights that began on March 25 and are still continuing, said Tehseen Sheikhly, one of the spokesmen for the Baghdad security plan.

Some 10,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by tanks, pushed deep into Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Baghdad bastion on Tuesday, stamping the government's authority on an area until now outside its control.

The army said they met no resistance as they moved into Sadr City in the early hours, securing three quarters of the sprawling slum where hundreds have been killed in weeks of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militants loyal to Sadr.

A truce 10 days ago between Shi'ite factions largely ended the fighting in one of Baghdad's poorest districts and paved the way for Tuesday's operation.

The truce agreement called on gunmen loyal to Sadr to lay down their arms and on the government to restore control over Sadr City.

Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police and columns of military vehicles moved into the suburb in the early hours, past burned-out wrecks of buildings and along rubble-strewn streets.

"We are taking control of three quarters of (Sadr) city. What is left is the final quarter," said a spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

He said around 10,000 police and soldiers were involved.

Fire-blackened and bullet-riddled buildings in the area gave testament to the recent fighting and U.S. air and tank strikes in Sadr City, home to 2 million people.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers stood on corners, flying Iraqi flags, while army vehicles patrolled streets. Black-robed women walked nearby and children played.

MEHDI ARMY STRONGHOLD

Sadr City is the main stronghold of Sadr's Mehdi Army, a militia estimated to number tens of thousands that the U.S. military once called the greatest threat to peace in Iraq.

The operation, on the second anniversary of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's swearing-in, was the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that the Iraqi army had pushed so deeply into the area. It previously controlled only the perimeter.

Maliki's government is pushing to extend its control over areas that were under the sway of Shi'ite militias or Sunni Arab insurgents.

The security forces spokesman said Tuesday's operation was coordinated with Sadr's movement to avoid bloodshed and soldiers had cleared more than 100 roadside bombs before going in.

The army intended to set up permanent checkpoints, search for wanted people, disarm insurgents and provide basic services to residents.

"I saw more than 40 Iraqi Humvees (army vehicles) in the major street in my district," said Hamza Hashim, a 53-year-old Sadr City resident.

Iraqi soldiers took over a disused police station while others moved into high buildings and deployed snipers, he said.

Shops and schools in the area were closed, residents said.

A U.S. military spokesman said no American troops were involved and the operation was Iraqi-planned and executed.

A spokesman for Sadr said the army operation had generally been welcomed, despite some "provocations" such as restrictions imposed on vehicle traffic.

One Mehdi Army leader, Abu Ammar, complained about some of the army's actions. "The snipers are above buildings watching. They entered a mosque with their shoes. This is a provocative act. They broke the door and entered. We told them we could open the door for you, but they broke it," he said.

The Mehdi Army staged two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. A government offensive against it in the southern oil port of Basra in March touched off a wave of retaliatory attacks in Baghdad and other cities.

Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, doubted Tuesday's operation would succeed in removing the Mehdi Army from Sadr City.

"They'll lie low but they could retake control of the city any time," he told Reuters. "The Sadrists feel weakened, feel threatened and this increases the potential for violence."

Sadr was acquiescing because he did not want an out-and-out confrontation, he said. "The cost to him would be huge."

Separately, Iraq said U.S. President George W. Bush had apologized to Maliki and promised prosecution of a U.S. soldier accused of using a copy of the Koran for target practice.

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The decisive battle of the Iraq war is shaping up — not in the streets of Baghdad but in the halls of government where the future of America's role across the region is on the line.

American and Iraqi officials have expressed new resolve to hammer out far-reaching deals that would allow U.S. forces to remain on bases across Iraq once the U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

The stakes in the talks are enormous.

The outcome will shape not just Iraq for years to come — but, more important, America's strategic position all across the oil-rich Persian Gulf at a time when Iran's influence is growing. The U.S. maintains substantial air and naval forces elsewhere in the Gulf but few ground troops except in Iraq.

A pact also would assure Arab allies that Iraq would not fall under domination by Iran, which is pressuring the Iraqis to refuse any deal that keeps U.S. soldiers here.

But critics in the United States fear it will tie the hands of the next president when millions of Americans are anxious to bring troops home. Many Iraqis, in turn, worry the deal will allow American domination of their country for decades.

With so much in the balance, the Iraqi government said Wednesday that both Washington and Baghdad recognize the need to finish the talks by July's end "to avoid any legal vacuum that may arise."

That came only days after it seemed the deal was dead. But Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the prospects for an accord had brightened because of new U.S. flexibility after meetings in Washington.

The White House said President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki discussed the talks Thursday via secured video teleconference and affirmed their commitment to completing the deal.

Nevertheless, the two sides remain far apart on core issues, including the number of bases where the United States will have a presence, and U.S. demands for immunity from Iraqi law for American soldiers and contractors.

Other obstacles include U.S. authority to detain suspects, fight battles without Iraqi permission and control of the country's airspace.

Iraq's parliament must sign off on the deal by year's end — and approval is by no means certain.

Opposition to the initial U.S. demands brought together rival Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders who all complain the deal would leave real power in American hands.

The oil minister, who is close to the country's powerful Shiite clerical leadership, told the British newspaper The Guardian this week that Iraq will demand the right to veto any U.S. military operation.

But American commanders believe they need such sweeping powers to protect U.S. soldiers in a combat zone.

Publicly, U.S. officials have expressed confidence they can find language that will satisfy the Iraqis on all major issues. But the negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of war and intense power struggles among rival ethnic groups in Iraq — each with its own agenda.

The U.S. operates scores of bases throughout the country, including the sprawling Camp Victory headquarters in Baghdad, Asad air base in western Iraq and the giant air facility at Balad, a 16-square-mile installation about 60 miles north of the capital that houses tens of thousands of American troops, contractors and U.S. government civilians.

It's still unclear how many of the facilities Washington would want to keep.

If all else fails, the two sides could go back to the U.N. Security Council and seek an extension of the mandate allowing troops in Iraq.

But that could prove politically embarrassing — and difficult — in the waning days of the Bush administration or the early days of the new U.S. presidency.

The current standoff has its roots in events last August when leaders of Iraq's rival factions — facing enormous U.S. pressure to resolve their differences — signed a declaration of unity.

It included a statement that Iraq's government wanted a long-term security relationship with the United States apart from U.N. mandates, which Iraq has long wanted to end.

A few months later, Bush and al-Maliki signed a statement of principles to negotiate two agreements — a broad security framework and a second deal spelling out the rules for the U.S. military presence.

Talks began in March but Iraqi officials were outraged over the initial U.S. demands — especially immunity for U.S. soldiers and security contractors.

The American draft also included no firm commitment to defend Iraq from foreign invasion — which would require U.S. Senate approval — nor a timetable for the departure of American troops, according to Iraqi officials. U.S. officials have released few details.

After Iraqi negotiators briefed lawmakers last month, politicians from all walks paraded in front of microphones to denounce the U.S. proposals.

Some commentators likened the U.S. position to the Iraqi-British treaty of 1930, which gave Britain virtual control of the country and is widely seen here as a humiliation.

Shiite lawmaker Haidar al-Abadi, speaking for al-Maliki's party, said June 4 that "negotiations are at a standstill, and the Iraqi side is studying its options." A week later al-Maliki himself said talks had reached a "dead-end."

Aides scrambled to clarify that al-Maliki did not mean negotiations were over. But his comments reflected Iraq's resolve not to accept an agreement short of major Iraqi demands.

"We could not give amnesty to a soldier carrying arms on our soil," al-Maliki said then.

Such comments reflect each Iraqi faction's need to publicly defend Iraq's rights, amid the country's intense political rivalry.

Some Sunni groups, for example, privately favor a continued American presence as a counterweight to Iran's influence among Shiites. Yet several leading Sunni politicians signed a letter to Congress insisting on a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal — in part to needle al-Maliki on an nationalistic issue.

Shiite parties, in turn, believe the agreement would shore up American support for al-Maliki ahead of parliamentary elections next year — a goal they seek. But Shiite leaders are also anxious to take over full control of their country.

Meanwhile, recent Iraqi military successes against al-Qaida in Mosul and Shiite extremists in the south have convinced some Shiite politicians they don't really need America.

"Iraq has another option that it may use," al-Maliki said recently. "The Iraqi government, if it wants, has the right to demand that the U.N. terminate the presence of international forces on Iraqi sovereign soil."

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RAMADI, Iraq (Aug. 29, 2008) – The governor and the commanding general of all the Iraqi Security Forces for al-Anbar took full control and responsibility for security from Coalition forces, which has loosened control of the once deadly province.

 

The Iraqi leaders signed the Command and Control Memorandum of Understanding in a ceremony at the Anbar Governance Center here Aug. 26, proof that progress for a safe and secure al-Anbar is moving forward for the people of the region and Iraq.

 

“Today I, my province and its Army commander, Maj. Gen. Murthi Mush’hen Almhalawi, who led its troops to victory against al-Qaeda, are happy to announce that we will join together to protect and serve Anbar,” said Gov. Ma’amoon Sami Rashim Alawi, al-Anbar’s provincial governor.

 

“We will receive its security responsibilities from the friendly forces,” said Gov. Ma’amoon before signing the document.

 

Murthi, who now oversees the Army, Police and Border Enforcement for the province at the Anbar Operation Command in Ramadi, has a full measure of respect for his position and the security of the province.

 

“Carrying Anbar’s security responsibility is an honor and one that I have been charged with and will protect, and we will fiercely protect the lives of our citizens. We will sacrifice all we have for the well-being of our elders, youths, men and women,” Murthi said.

 

“This was really a red-letter day for the province and the United States, because it is the first step in completely turning over responsibility to the local officials,” said Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, commanding general of Multi National Force -West.

 

This was a historic day because the Army, Police and the civil government are working together in unison to provide security for the people of Anbar, said Col. Danny Bubp, Governor Ma’amoon’s military liaison officer said.

 

When the war began in 2003, a dynamic change took place that saw a dangerous dictator in Saddam Hussein be removed from power. The region was plunged into chaos by al-Qaeda and the insurgency that attempted to thwart peace and democracy. Now there is evidence of a democracy at works here in Anbar province. “We are seeing it at its very best,” said Bubp.

 

“When we talk about a historic day, certainly this will go down as the day that marks the change from Coalition forces turning control of security back to the Anbaris, Iraqi, and the new government,” Bubp said.

 

Safety and security of the province were keys to the allowing this change in authority to happen.

 

None of the progress could have happened if the insurgents, al-Qaeda, and terrorist had not been dealt with, Bubp said. “Coalition forces have been working together with the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police, training them and developing them. Now they are using their own intelligence sources to work with Coalition forces against the insurgence and terrorists.”

 

This is something brand new to the Iraqis, because under the former régime there was no civil authority - there was just Saddom and his military controlling everything.

 

“Now we’ve got the governor of Anbar province, the Provincial Council, the elected officials and representatives of the people working with the military and Iraqi Police, all working in unison toward protecting the populace,” Bubp said.

 

“We wouldn’t be here today signing this MOU as a prelude to signing the final MOU for the final Provincial Iraqi Control, to be signed next week, without Coalition forces in this province,” Kelly said.

 

“It’s been overwhelmingly over the last four years a Marine-led or controlled province,” said Kelly, who commands nearly 25,500 Coalition forces in Anbar. “I am the sixth Marine general officer to command here in the province, but it’s been a joint-team effort; and over a thousand Americans of all ages and wearing all four of our countries uniforms have died here in the province, but (PIC) wouldn’t have happened if the Coalition had not been as good as it is.”

 

“This won’t be the first province to PIC, and it won’t be the last province to PIC; but I would say it the most remarkable province because of what has gone on here and what a fight it was, and how infiltrated al-Qaeda was here,” Kelly said.

 

Bubp described how al-Qaeda in Iraq had its headquarters in Ramadi and paraded down the main street of Ramadi in 2006. “You can see how dynamic things have changed; the people did not want al-Qaeda, they don’t want insurgents, they want peace, they want to raise their families and they want more for their children than what they’ve got -education being number one, not only for boys but for girls too. It’s exciting to see all of those things coming together in what we call a democracy.”

 

With fledgling democracy growing, violence is dying.

 

"I would compare the level of violence in a city like Fallujah or Ramadi as much lower than the level of violence in the cities in America, if not all cities in America, of like size," Kelly said.

 

Still, Kelly cautions on using the word victory just yet; there is still much to be done.

 

For the Iraqis to have victory they need to carry the ball the last 10 yards, said Kelly. He added that economic development and reconstruction are in the hands of the Iraqi government, who has enough money to fund their own initiatives.

 

But Kelly says he is not done. “We will not walk away from them; we are still very much partnered with them.”

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When General David Petraeus took over as U.S. military commander in Iraq in February 2007, the country was on the brink of all-out civil war.

Car bombs rocked Baghdad every day -- including 42 alone during the month he assumed command.

But backed by 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers, Petraeus implemented a new counterinsurgency strategy that combined with other factors helped drag Iraq back from the abyss.

Petraeus hands control of U.S. forces in Iraq to Lieutenant-General Ray Odierno, on Tuesday. Odierno, who served as number 2 U.S. commander in Iraq for 15 months until February, will be promoted to full general on the day of the handover.

Petraeus leaves behind a very different Iraq. Violence has dropped to levels not seen since early 2004 and Iraqi officials now eagerly talk about drumming up foreign investment.

The wiry, scholarly looking Petraeus acknowledges he harbored dark thoughts at times during his command.

"Certainly you do have moments where if you are honest with yourself in something as difficult as this has been, you occasionally wonder if it will be achievable," Petraeus told Reuters in an interview in Baghdad in late July.

"But we are in a very different place now than from where we were a year, a year and a half ago."

Petraeus will still be involved in Iraq policy when he takes over next month as head of the U.S. Central Command, the headquarters that oversees operations in a swathe of countries across the Middle East and beyond, including Afghanistan.

He has spent more time in Iraq than just about any other American soldier since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

While some critics question whether the security gains in Iraq are sustainable and have been matched by enough political progress, Petraeus was pivotal in getting violence down.

Upon taking command in Iraq he moved troops off their big, fortified bases and into population centers in Baghdad where al Qaeda was wreaking havoc with car bombs and sectarian death squads were roaming the streets at will.

This meant setting up small joint combat outposts throughout Baghdad and other places where U.S. soldiers lived and fought with Iraqi troops. Petraeus also ordered a wave of aggressive operations against insurgents of all stripes.

The initial stages were costly -- during the months of April-June 2007 more than 330 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq, making it the deadliest quarter of the war.

But then troop deaths began to fall rapidly as all "surge" forces deployed, increasing numbers of Sunni Arab tribal groups joined the fight against al Qaeda and Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr imposed a ceasefire on his Mehdi Army militia.

GRUELLING SCHEDULE

Petraeus kept up a grueling schedule.

He made regular visits to the battlefield to speak to troops and to seek feedback on how the war was being fought.

Arriving at a military base in volatile Diyala province last October on a trip accompanied by Reuters, Petraeus went straight into a meeting with junior officers. He wanted their views without the base commander present.

That was part of Petraeus's approach, say aides: encourage the lieutenants and captains who were in the field every day to talk freely, without their immediate superiors around. Ordinary soldiers would send him emails.

Petraeus also showed media savvy in Baghdad and Washington, never getting drawn into over-optimistic predictions about Iraq when statistics showed violence dropping sharply. Even now, he repeatedly says there will be no "victory dance" in Iraq.

Richard Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina, said Petraeus has the highest public profile and popularity of any U.S. general in years but cautioned that could change if Iraq unraveled or he did not impress in his next job.

Petraeus would face even more difficult challenges, such as the war in Afghanistan and militancy in Pakistan, when he takes on the Central Command job, Kohn said.

"He's got an even more complex situation on his hands," Kohn said.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Washington, Editing by Ralph Boulton)