Iraq to take control of Babel

9-28-08
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2400838,00.html

Iraqi security forces will take control of the central Shi'ite province of Babel within a month, the provincial governor Salem al-Saleh Meslmawe told AFP on Sunday.

"We have discussed with the government and the coalition forces and there is an agreement to transfer security. This will be done within a month," Meslmawe said.

Babel will be the 12th out Iraq's 18 provinces where security responsibilities are to be transferred to Baghdad by the US-led coalition forces.

"The security (in Babel) is very good and Iraqi security forces can control it," the governor said, adding that the transfer would take place between mid to late October.