British troops have formally handed over control of an Iraqi town to a civilian authority amid complaints by locals about the scarcity of drinking water and the lack of security.
The town of Umm Qasr is the first Iraqi town to handed back since the US-led invasion.
Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Jones, commander of 23 PioneerRegiment and former military governor of Umm Qasr, was at the ceremony to hand over rule to a council of 12 Iraqis, who will govern the town next to Iraq's only deep-water port.
The current members of the council - which will run the town of 45,000 people close to the Kuwait border in southern Iraq - are volunteers, including local professionals and clerics.
But elections will be held in a week to appoint a new council.
Around 200 British troops are in Umm Qasr but most will leave within days. About 30 will remain in the town to help maintain security and liaise with the Iraqi council.
Town councils have been set up in several places in Iraq, but Umm Qasr is the first town where a council has taken over overall charge from US or British troops. It is also significant because the port is southern and central Iraq's main entrance for food, aid and trade and an exit point for oil.
Some Iraqis in the town's market said the local council had been ineffectual so far. Others accused council members of using their position for personal profit. Protests caused the interim council to resign earlier this month but most members later returned.
The difficulties faced by the British in setting up a local government in Umm Qasr, a small and relatively homogenous town, illustrate the problems that lie ahead as US and British forces try to return power to Iraqis.