Iraq is preparing for a giant party in a Baghdad park and a special holiday as US troops approach their deadline to quit cities and towns.

American troops are due to withdraw to bases by Tuesday, which has been declared National Sovereignty Day and is a public holiday in Iraq.

The party is to begin shortly in Baghdad’s Zawra Park, with poets and musicians due to entertain the crowd.

All US troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011.

Combat operations across Iraq are expected to end by September 2010.

With Iraqi security forces set to secure their own cities and towns from 1 July, police leave has been cancelled and extra troops have been drafted in.

Symbolic hand-over

Ahead of the withdrawal deadline, US soldiers are conspicuously absent from many of Baghdad’s Shia and Sunni districts, correspondents say.

Streets have been crowded with cars and pedestrians as music blares from city shops.

Iraqi police and soldiers are manning checkpoints, inspecting identity cards and checking vehicles for weapons.

“Our expectation is that maybe some criminals will try to continue their attacks,” said interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf.

“That is why orders came from the highest level of the prime minister [Nouri Maliki] that our forces should be 100% on the ground until further notice.”

The former defence ministry building in Baghdad, which was taken over after the 2003 US-led invasion, was handed back to the Iraqi government on Monday.

Gen Abboud Qambar, commander of Baghdad Operation Command, received a symbolic key from US Gen Daniel Bolger, commander of US forces in Baghdad.

“This marks the end of the rule of the multi-national force,” the Iraqi commander said.

Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January.

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