Samawa (Iraq), July 13 (Reuters): Iraq took full control of a province from foreign troops for the first time since the 2003 US-led invasion today.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the handover of southern Muthanna province from British-led troops to Iraqis, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned that insurgents would try to stage attacks to mar a day “written with golden letters in Iraq’s history”.

“Terrorists who want to disrupt the handover of security and the success of the national unity government will not spare any effort to sabotage this step,” Nuri al-Maliki said in the provincial capital Samawa.

“If this experience fails, this could lead to a big setback which could affect our efforts to control security,” Maliki said of the handover, the first since the war toppled Saddam Hussein.