Region | Iraq
Weather delays US handover of Iraqi province
An impending sandstorm put on hold the handover of security control in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces, the US military said on Friday.
- Agencies
- Published: 14:34 June 27, 2008
Baghdad: An impending sandstorm put on hold the handover of security control in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces, the US military said on Friday.
The standstorm is forecast to hit the region soon and could prevent officials flying to Anbar for Saturday's handover ceremony, the military said.
US spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes, said the delay was not linked to a bomb attack in Anbar on Thursday that killed 20 people.
"There's really no connection. The wheels were already in motion to push this back [because of the weather]," Hughes said.
No new date has been set for the handover, but Hughes said security responsibilities were already being gradually transferred to Iraqi forces.
Anbar will be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces returned to Iraqi security control since the US-led invasion in 2003.
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