KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - The US military prepared on Monday to transfer the security of the central Shiite province of Karbala to Iraqi forces at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

The handover was being held amid tight security in a sports stadium in Karbala, which now becomes the eighth of Iraq's 18 provinces to be transferred to Iraqi control.
Maliki went to Karbala on Sunday evening for the ceremony. The province, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Baghdad, is relatively peaceful compared to some other central and western regions of Iraq, but is emerging as a flashpoint of Shiite rivalry.
Karbala, home to the shrines of two of Shiite Islam's most revered imams -- Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas -- was the site of a bloody firefight in August during a major religious festival.
At least 52 people were killed in the clashes between Shiite fighters and police as tens of thousands of pilgrims marked the anniversary of a 12th century imam. On Saturday, Karbala governor Akhil al-Khazali told AFP that his forces were prepared to take over the control of the province from the US military.
The other Iraqi provinces handed over by US-led forces to date are Maysan, Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Najaf in the central and southern regions and the three northern Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.