Iraqi politicians of all stripes laud U.S. pullout

By Tim Cocks and Khalid al-Ansary

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi politicians from across the ethnic and sectarian divide Wednesday welcomed the U.S. troop withdrawal from cities as a step towards sovereignty, even though they feared it might trigger more violence.

U.S. combat troops pulled out of Iraq's towns and cities on Tuesday into rural bases, the first step of a bilateral security pact that requires all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by 2012. A small number of troops stayed behind as advisors and trainers.

Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni Arab politicians, who rarely agree on anything, saw the step as necessary but warned that militants would try to exploit any security gap.

Hours after Iraqis celebrated "Sovereignty Day," declared a national holiday, a car bomb killed 34 people in a Kurdish district of the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk.

A spike in violence in the past 10 days -- including two of the biggest bombs for more than a year that killed 150 people between them -- has raised doubts about whether Iraqi forces are yet capable of handling the country's fragile security.

"The pullout is a very good step on the path to independence and sovereignty and Iraqis are glad of that," said Hashim al-Taie of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament. But he added that he feared insecurity. Many Sunnis fear being left at the mercy of Iraq's Shi'ite-led forces.

"A few months ago ministers were saying that Iraqi forces were not ready to take over. What's changed?" he said.

MIXED FEELINGS