The US army unit which caught Saddam Hussein handed control of north-central Iraq to a new division in a ceremony here Tuesday marked by military songs and pledges to help Iraqis "rendezvous" with democracy.
US military commanders vowed to pull out of Iraq once a fully fledged government, army and police force were in place, but admitted that they had no clear idea when this would be.
Task Force Iron Horse, a multinational assembly of 33,000 troops led by the US army's 16,000-strong Fourth Infantry Division (4ID), officially wound up its 12-month tour in Iraq to be replaced by Task Force Danger, under the command of the First Infantry Division (1ID).
"This transfer of authority of the north-central region of Iraq from the fourth to the first is an historic moment," the top US commander on the ground, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said.