# Posted 5:55 AM by Patrick Belton  

TRANSFER OF SOVEREIGNTY WATCH: Dan Senor, CPA senior advisor, in a news conference several minutes ago:

[T]he following ministries have already been handed over for daily operational management to the Iraqi people:  Ministry of Education, Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Displacement and Migration, and today, the Ministry of Water Resources.

The following three ministries are scheduled to transition later this week:  the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, which is tomorrow; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is Wednesday; and the Ministry of Planning and Development, later this week, as well.  And we will continue to work every single week between now and June 30th to turn over additional ministries to the Iraqi leadership.

Also, in military operations watch, BGEN Mark Kimmitt made the following reports in this morning's briefing:

• Fallujah has gone over a week without a violation of the cease-fire agreement. [In the last day,] coalition and Iraqi security forces continued joint operations in check points around Fallujah.  Just after 10:00 this morning coalition forces conducted a joint patrol in Fallujah supported by the Fallujah Brigade.  With the 1st Battalion providing security along their route, Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force traveled into downtown Fallujah today to meet with city officials.  The commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, Major General Mattis, met with the mayor of Fallujah and a group of tribal sheiks to discuss plans to rebuild and revitalize the city.

• Two nights ago in the north-central zone of operations, coalition forces conducted a raid to disrupt anti-coalition forces near Baqubah. The targets of the raid were suspected of financing enemy forces in the area and the raid detained four targets, and all have been taken to a base camp for further questioning.

• In Baghdad, coalition forces conducted offensive operations last night in Sadr City, to reduce attacks and the overall presence of the Muqtada militia. Starting at 02:00 last evening, coalition forces conducted a cordon and search in conjunction with the destruction of the Sadr bureau building, to deny its future use by Muqtada militia members. Coalition forces observed numerous accounts of RPG fire from the alleyways directed at their elements as they approached the Sadr bureau and encountered numerous other engagements during the early morning. Forces cordoned off and searched the buildings to identify any militia present.  No one was present and coalition forces pulled back from the immediate area.  Coalition forces then initiated the destruction of the building.  Total roll-up over the last 24 hours from the numerous engagements in Sadr City resulted in 35 enemy killed, two enemy wounded and four coalition soldiers wounded who have been returned to duty.

• Yesterday evening an IED exploded in the vicinity of Four Seasons al-Arabiyah Hotel in eastern Baghdad.  The Iraqi police service secured the site and confirmed two British citizens and two Iraqi citizens were injured.

• The situation in Basra has seen a moderate level of anti-coalition activity with four reported attacks in the last 24 hours.  The enemy in Basra continues to use RPG and small-arms fire to attack coalition forces.

• Yesterday coalition forces conducted a raid north of Mahmudiyah to capture multiple targets, suspected members of a cell who are suspected of conducting attacks on coalition forces.  The unit captured four of the seven targets plus one additional suspected enemy.  Yesterday a coalition patrol conducted a reconnaissance of the industrial complex across from a coalition base camp near An Najaf to kill or capture Muqtada militia and to prevent that militia from conducting future attacks at the coalition base camp.  The unit came under fire by small arms and RPG, and the unit returned fire, killing three militia.  The unit also captured two suspected militia and confiscated numerous RPG rounds and a machine gun.

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