British Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew into southern Iraq Sunday to rally troops and confirm that Iraqi forces will take command of the last region under British control in mid-December.

Soldiers lined the staircases of an airport base to watch Brown arrive for his hourlong visit, offering thunderous applause as he praised their efforts to maintain security in the south.

“We have managed now to get Iraq to a far better position. … We’re able to move to provincial control and that is thanks to what you have achieved,” Brown told soldiers.

He said he had held discussions by phone with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who recommended responsibility for security in southern Iraq should be handed over to local police and soldiers within two weeks.