BAGHDAD, 7 September 2006 — Iraq’s dominant Shiite alliance yesterday submitted a draft of a new law to govern the division of the country into autonomous regions, as unabated violence left at least 17 people dead. British forces in the restive southern city of Basra, meanwhile, said they would bring in hundreds of new troops to provide additional protection for reconstruction projects.

Iraq also announced that the ceremonial start of handover of military command from US forces to domestic forces would take place today after it was abruptly canceled last Saturday. The United Iraqi Alliance, the dominant Shiite parliamentary bloc, is promoting a “law of regional formation” so that the oil-rich Shiite southern Iraq can win self-rule on the model of the autonomous Kurdish north. “The law will define how the regions are formed and whether it will be done by the governing council or through popular referendum,” said party member Hamid Mualla Al-Saadi.

Sunni lawmakers have vociferously opposed the draft law on autonomous regions, saying it is a prelude to a carve-up of the country, which would leave them with just the resources-poor center and west of Iraq. But in recent days they appear to have softened their opposition, saying they would support the “administrative application of federalism” as long as a strong central government remains.

British forces in Basra, meanwhile, confirmed they were reinforcing their 7,200-strong force with 360 additional troops, primarily to beef up their presence during an upcoming troop rotation.

“When two brigades swap over it’s a period of organized chaos — I think that’s probably the best way to describe it — and there’s a requirement for operations to continue,” Maj. Charlie Burbridge told AFP from Basra.

The additional troops, which include engineers and Royal Marines, will then be held over for several more weeks to assist in reconstruction work.

Two British soldiers were killed on Monday by a roadside bomb while escorting a reconstruction unit north of Basra, bringing the total number of British military personnel to have died since the March 2003 invasion to 117. British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett visited Basra on her second day of an Iraq visit.

“Peace and stability in the south is not simply reliant on the support from the British and coalition forces, but depends too on the Iraqi security forces, political parties, and the local community all working together,” she stressed.

“Everyone I met stressed to me their wish for the multinational force to remain here until the Iraqi security forces are ready to take over.” On Tuesday, President Jalal Talabani had said that British troops could be able to exit from Iraq by end of 2007.

Violence continued in Iraq yesterday with at least 17 people killed across the war-torn country. Six Iraqis were killed and 46 more wounded in a pair of bombings at a bus stop in Baghdad during the morning rush hour.

In another major attack, six Iraqi border policemen were killed and another six wounded when insurgents set off a car against their patrol in the town of Sinjar near the Syrian border.

Elsewhere five Iraqis were killed yesterday. Police also found 22 bodies of men shot to death in apparent sectarian-related killings in Iraq, 19 of them in Baghdad.

Iraq’s Parliament passed a law yesterday opening the way for private companies to import and distribute petroleum products, in a move that could end the country’s severe fuel shortage.

The new law liberalizes import, distribution and retail activities in the oil sector, which was hitherto entirely government-run.

Despite Iraq’s massive oil reserves, the second largest in the world after Saudi Arabia, the country suffers from a severe shortage of refined products, including gasoline, and motorists often line up for hours at petrol stations.

Also yesterday, Iraq announced that it and the US military would today sign a delayed accord under which coalition forces will hand command of Iraqi armed forces to the government.

The agreement was initially due to be signed on September 2, but the handover ceremony was abruptly canceled after disagreements on the Iraqi side over who should sign the handover on the government’s behalf. A government spokesman said Maliki will name a senior official to sign the agreement, but did not reveal his identity.