Iraqis restrict US operations in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi military has turned down several requests from American forces to move unescorted through Baghdad and conduct a raid since the transition of responsibility for urban security at the end of last month, an Iraqi military commander said Monday.

U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas on June 30 under a security agreement with Iraq that requires all U.S. troops to be out of the country by the end of 2011.

Col. Ali Fadhil, a brigade commander in Baghdad, said the transfer had occurred with minor friction in the capital where violence has dropped dramatically since the sectarian bloodletting and insurgent attacks that swept much of the country in past years.

Fadhil told The Associated Press about two occasions in which Iraqi troops turned down U.S. requests to move around the capital until they had Iraqi escorts, and one instance to conduct a raid, which the Iraqis carried out themselves.

"They are now more passive than before," he said of U.S. troops. "I also feel that the Americans soldiers are frustrated because they used to have many patrols, but now they cannot. Now, the American soldiers are in prison-like bases as if they are under house-arrest."

Outside urban areas, where U.S. troops are still free to move without Iraqi approval, Americans are assisting with the search and arrest of insurgents, manning checkpoints and continuing ongoing efforts to train Iraqi forces — from medics to helicopter pilots. U.S. soldiers recently advised Iraqi soldiers during a seven-hour humanitarian aid drop in Diyala province.

The U.S. military in Iraq had no immediate comment Monday on the new relationship with its Iraqi counterparts. But it has said previously it remains available to assist them and has noted progress despite lingering questions about the Iraqi military's resolve and training.

In Washington, the Pentagon said the two forces are cooperating.

"We continue to work closely with Iraqi security forces and coordinate operations as we implement the security agreement," said Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.

Dangerous situations still face U.S. troops on and off their bases.

Iraqi forces face near-daily attacks in urban areas, though most of the violence is not on the scale of the past. On Monday, Iraqi police said a car bomb killed two police officers and injured eight civilians in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and four police officers and one civilian died in attacks in and near the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi police said.