World welcomes return of sovereignty
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 Coalition Administrator Paul Bremer hands over the transfer document to Iraqis.
 The coalition has transferred power to the Iraqi interim government.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey -- World leaders have welcomed the surprise early handover of power to Iraq but there were notes of caution from some parts of the Muslim world.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed Iraq "back into the family of independent and sovereign nations."
Annan, who is traveling in the Mideast, issued a statement urging Iraqis to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, through dialogue and consensus-building, to lay secure foundations for the new Iraq.
The first duty of the Iraqi people was to help the interim government establish security for the population so there is a return of normalcy, Annan said.
He pledged the support of the United Nations to do everything possible, as "circumstances permit," to help the Iraqi people in what he termed "this challenging yet vital process."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said: "There was nobody who did not welcome this handover and I do welcome this step again."
French President Jacques Chirac said the return of sovereignty is "a necessary condition for rebuilding democracy and stability in Iraq, as well as it is important for a successful development of Iraq.
"And we hope that the interim government successfully builds democracy, the economy and policy. And we hope that the people of Iraq will take back their destiny into their own hands."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed reporters alongside U.S. President George W. Bush at the NATO Summit in Istanbul.
Blair called the day "an important staging post on the journey of the people of Iraq toward a new future, one in which democracy replaces dictatorship, in which freedom replaces repression, and in which all the people of Iraq can look forward to the possibility and the hope of an Iraq that genuinely guarantees a future for people from whatever part of Iraq they come."
He also acknowledged that tremendous security challenges remain, and that the country faces an uphill battle toward security and freedom.
"If Iraq becomes a stable and democratic country -- and I'm not underestimating for a single instant the difficulties in doing that, incidentally -- but if it does, that is a huge blow to the propaganda and to the effort of the extremists," said Blair. "Our honest belief is that the world will be a safer place if we're able to make this work."
Amr Moussa, Arab League secretary-general, said: "Of course the transfer of power was decided on by the Security Council and we wish them good luck and that the Iraqi government is able to exercise its sovereignty."
He said the situation there is very dangerous and it is important that the new government navigate its way to a new, stable phase.
"What is important is that Iraq is able to exercise its sovereignty and its power for the benefit of Iraq and for the benefit of moving Iraq out of the dangerous phase it is in, to a new phase," Moussa said.
Moussa noted an important upcoming step -- the Iraq national conference. During the the interim period that will last for the rest of the year, a political conference will choose a national council that is to advise the interim government.
"This is an important, key step to achieve understanding between all the members of Iraqi society," Moussa said.
Ahmed Maher, Egypt's foreign minister, said he thinks "that once the Iraqis feel that they are their own masters, and they have a government that has power, then this will make the restoration of stability easier."
"This is what we wish for the Iraqi people: that it gets the chance to handle all of its own affairs."
Syrian Information Ministry official Ahmad Haj Ali said that what the interim Iraqi government should do is strive to get the U.S. troops to leave.
"There will be great security problems as a result of the U.S. presence," Haj Ali told the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a close U.S. ally who contributed troops to the invasion, congratulated Iraq's people "for the act of faith in a democratic future that is involved in this historic handover. They will need our help and our support for some time into the future."
Australia's 850 troops will stay in Iraq unless the government asks them to leave, Howard said, calling such a request unlikely.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said his country, "which has worked hard to reach this goal, feels even more the moral duty to support the brave Iraqi government in its efforts for democracy, security and for the social and economic reconstruction of the country."
Also voicing support were Japan, Denmark and the Philippines, which all strongly backed Washington on Iraq.
The European Union said it was considering posting a special representative in Baghdad and would offer support to elections scheduled there early next year. "We want to establish contact with the new government as soon as possible," said EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, said it was pleased by the handover but would wait to see how meaningful it was.
Restoration of sovereignty "has been the overriding concern of Indonesia from the very first day the occupation began," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa. "We need to observe how things materialize on the ground."
In the Middle East, Iraq's neighbor Jordan said the handover raised hope for stability in the conflict-ravaged nation.
"Jordan welcomes this development and considers it a step toward rebuilding political, economic, security and social institutions in Iraq," government spokeswoman Asma Khader told The Associated Press.
"We hope this will lead to stability and improving the security situation in Iraq," she said. "We hope that the transfer of authority will be a step toward ending the occupation and restoring Iraqi unity and territorial integrity."
Kuwait's prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, sent a cable to the interim Iraqi president, Ghazi al-Yawer, congratulating him on the transfer of power, the official Kuwait News Agency reported.
Sheik Sabah said in the message that he hoped the move would "lay the foundations of security and stability."
In Tehran, Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said: "We welcome any step toward the transfer of Iraqi affairs to the Iraqi people and the termination of occupation."
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
