Tanks rumbled through Baghdad again today but this time they were greeted by makeshift bands, dancing teenagers and crowds waving Iraqi flags. Six years after the US-led bombardment of the capital, control of the city’s streets has been handed back to Iraqis.

The government declared today a public holiday allowing people to gather and celebrate in cities more used to explosions, shoot-outs and the quasi-occupation of American forces.

Parties began last night under the watchful eye of Iraqi soldiers and police desperate to ensure that gatherings to mark the US-pullback did not spiral into violence.

This morning, columns of tanks and armoured vehicles decorated with artificial flowers, flags and banners led a delirious parade through Baghdad, but Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, said the nation’s joy at the handover was mixed with sorrow for “beloved friends and relatives” who had been “targeted by terror."

In the wake of bombings that have already killed more than 200 people this month, the security forces assume control at a potentially dangerous crossroads. Leave has been cancelled for all personnel as the Iraqi forces attempt to retain stability.

Mr al-Maliki insisted that Iraq’s army and police were up to the task of defending the country in the wake of the US pullback. “It is a big mistake for people to think that the Iraqis will not handle the security issue,” Maliki said.

“It is an offence to the Iraqis. The people who said that the foreign troops would never withdraw and would keep permanent bases in our country were giving a green light to the terrorists to kill civilians."

Today’s pullback is part of a landmark security agreement signed last November between Baghdad and Washington covering the fate of the 133,000 US troops still in Iraq, a complete pullout is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

President Jalal Talabani thanked US forces for their role in overthrowing now executed dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, and in the years of bloodshed that followed.

“They bore the burden and dangers against the most cruel regime and against the mutual enemy - the terror,” Mr Talabani said on state television.

The handover came as the US army announced that four of its soldiers died from combat injuries yesterday, taking to 4,321 the number of American troops killed since the invasion.

General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, said he believed Iraq was now a better country.

“I believe the Iraqi people are much better off not having a dictator such as Saddam Hussein in charge,” he said. “They are now going to be able to see that they can move ahead and the people of Iraq will have a say in their government."

As celebrations were held across the country, even policemen in Baghdad joined in the dancing.

Ibrahim al-Mashhadani, a police officer, said: “We are happy to receive the security responsibilities and we are able to totally protect our citizens,”

Abu Mustapha, a carpenter, added: “I believe that the security of the nation will improve when the US forces leave."

But Mr al-Maliki warned earlier this month that insurgent groups and militias were likely to step up attacks in the run-up to today in a bid to undermine confidence in Iraq’s own security forces.

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