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By Caroline Wyatt
BBC News, Baghdad

The new US embassy in Baghdad is due to be officially opened, with a dedication service led by Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Security will be tight at the ceremony for one of the biggest and most expensive embassies the US has ever built.

On 1 January, the US officially handed over responsibility for security in the fortified Green Zone to Iraqi forces.

The US also gave back Saddam Hussein’s palace there, which had been their headquarters in the city.

The new complex, which will house a total of 4,000 staff, has been built with security very much in mind – so much so that camera crews will not be allowed to film the buildings at the opening ceremony.

The new year has opened with bloodshed in Iraq. The worst attack so far, a suicide bombing on pilgrims gathering at one of the main Shia shrines in Baghdad, killed up to 40 people.

On Sunday, Ambassador Crocker strongly condemned the suicide bombing near the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine, as well as a suicide attack on 2 January – the second against a meeting of Sunni and Shia tribal leaders just south of the city.

Mr Crocker said the recent attacks showed that despite great progress on security, al-Qaeda in Iraq remained a lethal and dangerous threat

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

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