Baghdad: The US-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi Government today (June 28, 2004), speeding the move by two days in an apparent bid to surprise insurgents who may have tried to sabotage the step toward self-rule.

Legal documents handing over sovereignty were handed over by US Governor L Paul Bremer to interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in a ceremony in the heavily guarded Green Zone.

"This is a historical day,'' Allawi said. "We feel we are capable of controlling the security situation.''

Bremer will leave Iraq sometime today, coalition officials said on condition of anonymity.

"You have said, and we agreed, that you are ready for sovereignty,'' Bremer said in the ceremony. "I will leave Iraq confident in its future.''