U.S. hands over power in Iraq

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BAGHDAD -- The United States ended its 15-month occupation of Iraq yesterday morning, two days earlier than expected, with a stealth ceremony inside the heavily fortified green zone that was over before it was even announced.

Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) head L. Paul Bremer handed the sheaf of legal documents transferring power to Iraqi Chief Justice Midhat al-Mahmood in an ornate office once used by Iraq's Governing Council, as new President Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi looked on.

"This is a day all Iraqis have been looking forward to," Mr. al-Yawer said, "a day we are going to take our country back into the international forum."

Mr. Bremer told the Iraqi officials, "You have said and we have agreed that you are ready for sovereignty."

President Bush, meeting with fellow NATO leaders in Turkey, hailed the transfer of power as a milestone, but U.S. officials acknowledged that the ceremony was bumped up from June 30 and held in hastily arranged secrecy because of fears that terrorists would try to disrupt the proceedings.

The early transfer "had a subsidiary benefit, we thought, of perhaps somehow confusing the plans, or what we believe are plans, to disrupt the proceedings by the anti-coalition militants," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told National Public Radio.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also hailed the sovereignty transfer, welcoming Iraq "back into the family of independent and sovereign nations" and calling on Iraqis to support the new government.

The government faces monumental challenges, from confronting violent insurrectionists to reviving the economy, while preparing for national elections for a permanent government by the end of January.

Mr. Bremer boarded a helicopter to Baghdad International Airport almost immediately after the ceremony and left the country. In his 14-month tenure, the diplomat had overseen all aspects of Iraq's troubled transition, often while refereeing sharp disagreements within the Bush administration on Iraq's future.

A State Department spokesman said Mr. Bremer had returned home for "a well-earned rest and vacation."