Iraq's interim government has taken control of the country two days earlier than the scheduled handover of sovereignty from the US-led occupying power.
A ceremony that took place at 7.26 a.m. Irish time was attended by Mr Paul Bremer, the outgoing US governor of Iraq, and top Iraqi government officials, according to reports.
Iraqi foreign minister, Mr Hoshiyar Zebari
Foreign Minister Mr Hoshiyar Zebari told reporters on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Istanbul earlier that the formal handover to an interim government, headed by prime minister Mr Iyad Allawi, would be advanced from the planned date of June 30th.
Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar told those gathered at the ceremony: "This is a historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to."
Mr Bremer said: "I leave Iraq confident in the future and confident in the ability of the government to meet the challenges of the future.
Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
Mr Allawi told reporters that elections would go ahead on January 2nd next. Last week Mr Allwai was quoted as saying insecurity in Iraq might cause the elections to be delayed to February or March.
Mr Bremer was later reported to have left Iraq. A source said he and several of his staff had left in a C-130 transport plane from Baghdad airport. There was no information on where they were headed.
At a separate ceremony later, Mr Allawi and Mr Yawar were formally sworn in. The rest of the government were also sworn in at the ceremony, taking an oath before a senior Iraqi judge.
Mr Yawar called for unity among Iraq's diverse communities to protect the country, which is in the grip of an insurgency being conducted by forces opposed to the presence of US-led forces.
"This work has to be collective, among people and government, in the spirit of one family," Mr Yawar said.
Meanwhile, Nato leaders at a summit meeting in Istanbul formally agreed today to offer training to the security forces of Iraq's new interim government.
"They have agreed it," Nato spokesman Mr James Appathurai said. A Turkish diplomat said the deal on help for Iraq was very vague. "We decided to offer Nato assistance to the government for training of Iraqi security forces," he said.