(10 Feb 2007) SHOTLIST
++AUDIO AND VIDEO AS INCOMING++
1. US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad arriving for ceremony and greeting officials
2. Ceremony beginning
3. Officials standing
4. Mid shot of ceremonial handover between outgoing commander US General George Casey and General David Petraeus
5. Officials watching
6. SOUNDBITE (English) General David Petraeus, new US commander in Iraq:
"The rucksack of responsibility is very heavy, in truth it is too heavy for any one person to bear and we will all have to share the burdens and move forward together. If we can do that and if we can help the people of Iraq do likewise, then the prospects for success are good. Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continued violence and civil strife and surely that is a prospect that all must strive to avoid."
7. Wide of Petraeus at podium during applause
8. Various of outgoing commander US General George Casey amongst officials after ceremony
STORYLINE
The new top US commander in Iraq said on Saturday that the stakes were high but the "prospects of success are good" as American and Iraqi forces move to end the sectarian violence threatening to tear apart the country.
General David Petraeus made the comments at a ceremony in Baghdad during which he officially took control of US forces in Iraq from General George Casey, who is going to be the next Army chief of staff.
Petraeus was joined by Casey, Army General John Abizaid, the outgoing Central Command chief, and a chaplain for the handover ceremony, which was held at a former Saddam Hussein palace at Camp Victory on the western edge of Baghdad.
A US Army band with the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, played the US and Iraqi national anthems before the presentation of the flags.
Petraeus said the US and the Iraqis needed to continue working together to control the violence.
"The rucksack of responsibility is very heavy, in truth it is too heavy for any one person to bear and we will all have to share the burdens and move forward together," he said.
"If we can do that and if we can help the people of Iraq do likewise, then the prospects for success are good. Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continued violence and civil strife and surely that is a prospect that all must strive to avoid."
The change in command comes as US President George W. Bush overhauls his Iraqi policies and his team of top US officials in the Middle East despite strong opposition by Democrats to plans to send 21,500 more troops to beef up security in Iraq.
The US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie also attended the ceremony, although Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was absent.
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