Green zone was the most potent symbol of US invasion and occupation of Iraq.

A couple of ceremonies were held in the former place of Saddam Hussein to celebrate the occasion.  Iraq Government were so excited over the issue that they decided to make the First day of January a national holiday indicating the restoration of sovereignty for them.

“We propose to make January 1st a holiday marking the restoration of sovereignty”, said the Prime Minister of Iraq to the press.

The new security agreement came up replacing the old United Nations mandate for having foreign troops in Iraq. Both Washington and Baghdad now agree that Iraq will have the control over the action of American troops there as well as the airspace of the country.

Such decisions came up in the wake of major declines in the violent activities during the last year.  Daily attacks by insurgents however, still continue and they may try to expand their fights now as the United States troops can no more take unilateral action.

Even as the agreement was being signed, two Iraqi soldiers as well as three policemen fell victim to insurgent attacks on Thursday. In a retaliatory move the Iraqi and US troops gunned down three persons who were suspected to be al-Qaida gunmen.

Major change that will come up consequent upon such agreement is that the US troops manning the checkpoints along the Green Zone, the government and military command center of Iraq, will now assume the role of trainers and not leaders.

With the Americans moving out of the Republican Palace, the erstwhile Saddam headquarters which they took over in 2003, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki took former control of the building. Also under the new security agreements, the last of the American soldiers will leave the Iraqi soil by 2012.

“A year ago, the mere thought of forces withdrawing from Iraq was considered a dream,” al-Maliki told reporters afterward. “The dream that no one had the right to think about became true.”

On the same day, the British troops handed over Basra that was under their occupation to Iraqi officials.  The city is the second largest in the country. Great Britain has announced its intention to withdraw 4000 soldiers from Iraqi soil by May, 2009.

“Iraq is taking another step toward the future, signaling to its citizens and the international community that it is indeed a new day for sovereign Iraq,” said Col. Steven Ferrari of U.S Army at another ceremony while handing over control of Green Zone.

The decision of the Iraqi parliament to reject the British troops permission to stay beyond the mandate has been termed as a minor hiccup which will be resolved. Gordon Brown was of the notion that the Iraqi Prime Minister had given him his word regarding the issue. It seems highly unlikely that the British troops would be able to leave before the 31st of December.

The agreement that was settled between Baghdad and London determined that British troops would end all combat operations by 31 May and leave by 31 July. Four hundred British troops would be left behind for the purpose of providing training to the Iraqi navy.

The British soldiers faced uncertainty regarding the nature of the legal coverage that they would be provided during their prolonged stay in Iraq. This was because the Iraqi government had rejected the agreement twice. On a separate note Washington and Iraq have agreed on letting the US troops stay in Iraq till 2011.

The Iraqi government is stressing on the fact that a resolution needs to be passed concerning the faith of the foreign troops in the country before the year end. The British and Australian forces are at the forefront of this problem as they want parliamentary cover for their forces.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the proposal made by the British government to the Iraqi government. The Sunni Arab bloc spokesman said that the government is expected to accept the agreement whereas the Shia bloc has claimed that the government is likely to stay adamant on its rejection. The uncertainty within the ruling coalition of Iraq over the agreement is what has caused Hutton to term the rejection of the agreement as a minor hiccup.