Basra:
The British military transferred the command of the oil-rich southern province of Basra to the United States on Tuesday.
It was the latest step toward the full withdrawal of the remaining 4,000 British troops from Iraq by the end of May.
People in Basra, Iraq's second city, welcomed the withdrawal, with some hoping the US troops would also leave.
Britain has around 4,500 troops in Iraq, most of them based at an airport camp near the southern city of Basra.
Also on Tuesday the US transferred control of one of its largest bases in Baghdad - Forward Operating Base Rustamiyah.
The base was heavily rocketed during fierce fighting before violence ebbed about 18 months ago.
Major General Daniel Bolger told reporters that the US military personnel remaining in Rustamiyah would stay on as trainers.
"The Iraqi mission here, to train the best and brightest to defend Iraq, that mission continues," Bolger said.
Iraq and the US signed last year a security agreement which came into effect on January 1 2009.
It requires US forces to withdraw its troops from Iraqi cities by the end of next June and the entire country by the end of 2011.
At least nine US troop deaths were reported this month -- less than half from combat, according to an Associated Press tally.
At least 4,263 American service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, the AP tally shows.