Hand-over of self-rule comes early

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair celebrated the transfer.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the historic step toward self-rule.
Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor L. Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony today in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Bremer took charge in Iraq about a year ago.
"This is a historical day ... a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to," Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawer said. "This is a day we are going to take our country back into the international forum."
Militants had conducted a campaign of car bombings, kidnappings and other violence that killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent weeks and was designed to disrupt the transfer, announced by the Bush administration late last year. Initially, the Americans were thought to have planned for about one more year of occupation.
Bush and Blair
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the two determined architects of the war against Saddam Hussein, celebrated the early transfer of political power to Iraqis today. "The Iraqi people have their country back," Bush said.
In the 15 months since Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, more than 800 U.S. soldiers and more than 50 British soldiers have been killed, and a surge of violence preceded the hand-over, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.
"They've all given their lives in the cause of trying to give a better and different future to the people of Iraq," Blair said.
He called the accelerated transfer a landmark event, a day in which "democracy replaces dictatorship, in which freedom replaces repression, and in which all the people of Iraq can look forward to the possibility and the hope of an Iraq that genuinely guarantees a future for people from whatever part of Iraq they come."
Bush said: "We have kept our word" to deliver freedom and a new government to the Iraqi people.
"We pledged to end a dangerous regime, to free the oppressed and to restore sovereignty," he said.
Troops remain
Although Bush and Blair referred to the transfer as a hand-over of "full sovereignty," some 138,000 American troops remain in Iraq.
Bush referred to insurgents' threats -- some of them already carried out -- to behead their enemies, including Americans. An American Marine, three Turks and a Pakistani are now being held hostage by captors who have threatened to decapitate them.
The military situation is "tough, there's no doubt about it," Bush said, calling Al-Qaida-linked militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a "brutal cold-blooded killer."
But, he said: "They can't whip our militaries."
"What they can do is get on your TV screens, stand in front of your TV cameras, and cut somebody's head off in order to try to cause us to cringe and retreat. That's their strongest weapon," Bush said.
Saddam's transfer
Meanwhile, coalition officials and the Iraqi government have agreed to transfer legal custody of Saddam Hussein in a week, a coalition official said today -- but a military spokesman said he will remain in a U.S.-run jail for now because Iraqi government doesn't have a suitable prison.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, made the remarks hours after the U.S.-led coalition handed power to an Iraqi interim government in a nearly secret ceremony in Baghdad. No further specifics on the timing were available.
The ousted Iraqi leader, however, will remain in the hands of U.S. troops, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told Associated Press radio today.
"Prime Minister [Iyad] Allawi has said there are no facilities that he has available to hold Saddam in the amount of security that would be required, so he has asked the multinational forces to retain physical custody while legal custody is transferred over to the people of Iraq."
A Jordanian lawyer claiming to represent Saddam said the ousted leader should be released because handing him over to Iraq's new government would violate international law.
Ziad al-Khasawneh, one of 20 Jordanian and foreign lawyers appointed by Saddam's wife Sajidah said the United States has no legal basis to keep prisoners, including Saddam, now that it has transferred authority to an interim Iraqi government.
Trial for atrocities
The Iraqi Special Tribunal, established six months ago, is expected to try Saddam for atrocities committed during his 23 years as president, including the deaths of some 300,000 people.
The response in Baghdad to the transfer of power today was mixed.
"Iraqis are happy inside, but their happiness is marred by fear and melancholy," artist Qassim al-Sabti said. "Of course I feel I'm still occupied. You can't find anywhere in the world people who would accept occupation. America these days, is like death. Nobody can escape from it."
Two hours after the ceremony, Bremer left Iraq on a U.S. Air Force C-130, said Robert Tappan, an official of the former coalition occupation authority. Bremer was accompanied by coalition spokesman Dan Senor and close members of his staff. Bremer's destination was not given, but an aide said he was "going home."
The new interim government was sworn in six hours after the hand-over ceremony, which Western governments largely hailed as a necessary next step. The Arab world voiced cautious optimism but maintained calls for the U.S. military to leave the country quickly.
Allawi delivered a sweeping speech sketching out some of his goals for the country, urging people not to be afraid of the "outlaws" fighting against "Islam and Muslims," assuring them that "God is with us."
"I warn the forces of terror once again," he said. "We will not forget who stood with us and against us in this crisis."
Bush was briefed Sunday that the Allawi government was ready to take power early.
The early transfer had been under discussion between Allawi and U.S. officials for at least a week, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Government restrictions
Although the interim government will have full sovereignty, it will operate under major restrictions -- some of them imposed at the urging of the influential Shiite clergy, which sought to limit the powers of an unelected administration.
For example, the interim government will hold power only seven months until, as directed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, there must be elections "in no case later than" Jan. 31. The Americans will still hold responsibility for security. And the interim government will not be able to amend the interim constitution. That document outlines many civil liberties guarantees that would make problematic a declaration of emergency.
The new government's major tasks will be to prepare for elections, handle the day-to-day running of the country and work along with the U.S.-led multinational force, which is responsible for security. The Iraqis can in principle ask the foreign troops to leave -- though that is unlikely.
However, the United States and its partners hoped that the transfer of sovereignty would serve as a psychological boost for Iraqis, who have been increasingly frustrated by and hostile to foreign military occupation. U.S. officials hope that Iraqis will believe that they are now in control of their country and that will take the steam out of the insurgency.