Iraq is in control of security in more than half of its provinces for the first time since the 2003 invasion after US-led troops handed over the tenth region at a ceremony today.

With violence dropping nationwide, a senior Iraqi official predicted that the whole country would be secured by Iraqi hands before the end of the year.

The announcement came a day after Democratic hopeful Barack Obama claimed he would withdraw combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months. Mr Obama is expected to pay his second ever visit to Iraq in the coming days as part of a trip to the Middle East and Europe.

Iraqi officials heralded the handover of the southern Shia province of Qadisiyah as a milestone, but the true test will be when the authorities take control of one of Iraq’s more troublesome Sunni provinces – something that has yet to happen.

The transfer of authority of central Anbar province, previously the most notorious al-Qaeda hotbed in Iraq, has been repeatedly delayed apparently because of the dusty weather, although the skies have been relatively clear for the past week. Today, however, there was more dust.

“This day represents a bright page in a series of achievements that show the ability and the strength of the Iraqi forces,” said Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya, the deputy parliamentary speaker, who attended the Qadisiyah ceremony along with other senior Iraqi and US officials.

Portraying a similar confidence, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, the National Security Advisor, said the remaining provinces would soon follow.

"We aspire to reach to the 18th province before the end of this year. God willing, all provinces will be under the control of the Iraqi security authorities before the end of this year," he said in a speech broadcast on state television.

Lieutenant-General Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 US military commander in Iraq, said the Qadisiyah handover was "yet another demonstration by the democratic Government of Iraq that it is making progress for providing for all its people".

The nine other provinces which have been handed over to the Iraqis are the Shia provinces of Maysan, Muthanna, Basra, Dhi Qar, Najaf and Karbala, in southern Iraq, and the three Kurdish provinces of Dohuk, Sulaimaniyah and Arbil, in northern Iraq.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia Prime Minister, has won the respect of many in the country by taking a hard line in tackling Shia militia groups in the southern port city of Basra as well as the Baghdad slum of Sadr City.

He also sent Iraqi forces, backed by US troops, to confront Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul and preparations are underway for a fresh assault on the restive province of Diyala, north of Baghdad, where al-Qaeda attacks remain prevalent, despite a decline across the rest of the country.

Highlighting such dangers, two suicide bombers killed at least 28 Iraqi army recruits yesterday when they attacked a camp in Baqouba, the provincial capital of Diyala. A further 57 recruits were injured in the blasts, blamed on al-Qaeda.

Separately, a US soldier was killed yesterday when a bomb exploded in a house in Diyala, while on Monday a marine died of wounds received in a firefight in Anbar province. The latest deaths bring the US military's losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to around 4,120.

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