In another sign of U.S. struggles in Iraq, the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least July.

By DAMIEN HENDERSON BRITISH troops were last night withdrawing from their last base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, leaving security to local forces and paving the way for an eventual full-scale pull-out.

Iraqi soldiers hoisted the nation's flag over the Basra palace compound Monday after British troops withdrew from their last garrison in the city, leaving the country's second biggest city largely in the hands in the hands of Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

Iraqi soldiers hoisted the nation's flag over the Basra palace compound Monday after British troops withdrew from their last garrison in the city, a move that will hand control to an Iraqi force riddled with Shiite militiamen.

By DAVID RISING BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers manned the gates of a downtown Basra base Monday after the bulk of British tanks and troops pulled out overnight, a move that will leave Iraq's second-largest city without multinational forces for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.