The US-led coalition authorities in Iraq on Wednesday formally handed over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Iraqis.

"Already for months, the professionals of the Iraqi Ministry ofForeign Affairs have been making their own decisions and actingupon them," top US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer said at aceremony.

He noted that since Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari'sappointment in September 2003, he and his staff have worked toregain Iraq's seat in all international organizations.The ministry has also re-opened nearly fifty embassies worldwide, offering consular services in order to facilitate therequests of Iraqis seeking help from their government."Today's ceremony was an important milestone in the ministry'scampaign to restore sovereignty to Iraq and promote an independentforeign policy," Zebari said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is proud to serve the Iraqipeople, and we are committed to achieving our goals to reform theministry, and its activities, and put Iraq back on theinternational map where it rightly belongs as a responsible andstrategic member," he added.

Source: Xinhua