Baghdad - Iraqi security forces on Thursday were handed over control of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone from US troops in a landmark event leading toward Iraq's full sovereignty, local media reported.

Located in central Baghdad, the Green Zone houses several ministries, the Iraqi parliament and the US and British embassies.

US troops took over the international area and pacified it by building a four-metre-concrete wall around the Green Zone after the US invasion in 2003.

In November, Baghdad and Washington sealed a security deal that will see US troops withdraw from all provinces in Iraq by mid-2009 and will leave the country completely by 2011.

Some 140,000 US troops are currently stationed in Iraq. (dpa)