BAGHDAD, July 28 (AFP) - One month after the handover of power by the US-led occupation, perceptions of sovereignty differ widely among Iraqis, while security and economic prospects remain their overriding concerns.
"Allawi has done a good job in the last one month, but we still feel unsafe when we step out of our homes," said Ali Saadun, a 37-year-old owner of a hair salon in Baghdad's upper middle class Mansour neighbourhood.
The capital and its surrounding areas have seen almost daily attacks and car bombings against symbols of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's caretaker government.
Saadun said the situation would improve if people had jobs and money in their pockets.
Safa Mohammed, 44, a truck driver from the capital's predominantly Sunni Adhamiya district stood under the scorching sun outside the passport office hoping to get a travel document to leave to Jordan or Syria for work.
"Sometimes I think those kidnapping foreigners are justified," he said.
"We Iraqis do not have jobs and these foreigners are freely coming in and working for companies that are operating in Iraq."
Some Baghdadis believe Allawi should flex his muscles more and start applying the national security measures that were passed recently saying the faster Iraqis are in control of the security situation the quicker US troops would leave the country.
"Peace to Iraq will come only when Americans leave," Fadil Hassan, 34, a baker, who works on Haifa street in a part of central Baghdad that has been the scene of recent violence and is known for its anti-US sentiment.
"The moment people see American tanks and humvees, they get agitated."
Last month the private Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies (ICRSS) found that nearly 66 percent of those surveyed believe they would feel safer if US-led forces left the country.
In the restive town of Baquba, 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, people voiced similar concerns, but were happy to see more presence by Iraqi security forces on the streets.
"People here are willing to join the police, which is a clear indication that there is trust in the new government," said Nawaar Muhsen, a businessman.
Further north in the mostly Sunni city of Samarra, which is in the grip of insurgents, people resented the US military's heavyhanded approach in dealing with the town and felt the government was ignoring their plight.
"Nothing has changed, US forces kill and arrest Iraqis, it is all game," said Mohammed Jassem, 40, an ironsmith.
Housewife Nahed Salman, 43, was angry over Allawi's recent authorisation to the US military to carry out air strikes on the Sunni flashpoint of Fallujah, west of the capital.
In Kurdistan, people were fearful a strong central government would hem in their ambitions to create a federation that would include Kirkuk, which they claim was stripped away from them by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
"Kirkuk is the Jerusalem of Kurdistan," said Dilshad Muhsen, 35, a taxi driver in Suliemaniyah.
In Kirkuk most were with the government, but wanted US-led troops to take a backseat.
"We still have Americans conducting patrols, arresting people and raiding home. This should stop," said Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Aasi, an Arab tribe leader.
In the southern port city of Basra the new government was blamed for the uptick in violence there.
"Basra was a calm city until the handover took place. Now it is worse with many political assassinations," said Intisar Abdulwahab, 45, a civil servant, referring to the killing of local government official last week.