SAMARRA, Iraq — This rambling, riverside city is used to outsiders. Until the 2006 bombing of its most famous site — the golden-domed al-Askari mosque — religious pilgrims were the life blood of the local economy, filling local hotels, restaurants and markets.

But the visitors always went home at the end of their journey. Now, with each passing day, residents worry the heavily armed visitors sent by the central government are here to stay.

Samarra is as remarkable a security success story as you’ll find in Iraq. Eighteen months after members of al-Qaida in Iraq paraded openly through the city, carrying out public executions and systematically destroying the infrastructure, attacks are rare and tens of thousands of religious pilgrims stream into the city each week without incident.

But local Sunni residents and members of the Shiite-dominated security forces differ on what chapter of the security story they have reached. Demilitarizing what is now one of the most heavily-soldiered cities in Iraq is proving tricky and controversial.

"Who should be in control? Our people," said retired army officer Saleh Abed, reflecting the call of many Samarrans for national troops to leave security to locals.

Debate over police

Forces from Baghdad were sent to Samarra after the al-Askari mosque, one of the holiest Shiite sites in Iraq, was bombed twice. The first bombing, which toppled the 1,200-year-old mosque’s brilliant gold dome in February 2006, was a major spark for Iraq’s sectarian civil war. A second bombing in 2007 damaged two minarets.

The forces’ main task is to protect the mosque while it is being rebuilt. The streets around the site are locked down, with rooftop snipers and several police and army trucks at nearly every corner.

The soldiers and National Police in Samarra have operated under a unique joint command known as the Samarra Operations Center since they arrived in June 2007. Working as a bridge between the national forces and local police and members of the "Sons of Iraq," a group made up largely of former militants who renounced violence, is a small contingent of U.S. soldiers manning the Samarra Joint Coordination Center on the edge of town.

Estimates of Samarra’s population vary widely, from 100,000 to 175,000. But even the higher figure means the 5,000-member Iraqi security force presence gives Samarra about one soldier or National Police officer for every 35 residents. That is double the ratio in Baghdad.

Everyone seems to agree that the best situation would be for a well-trained local police force to take over the primary responsibilities of security within the city limits and the army and National Police to withdraw, guarding the perimeter.

"The key to Samarra is really putting the [local police] back in charge," said U.S. Army Maj. Patrick Harkins, who heads the U.S. mission at the Samarra Joint Coordination Center, though he said the transition must be done carefully and could take time.

The readiness of the police to take over is still hotly debated — most townspeople say they’re ready, while those working with the army and National Police disagree.

Not long ago, Samarra was a brutal battleground, with al-Qaida in Iraq members carrying out public executions of "collaborators" and destroying buildings they deemed U.S. sniper positions. The city is still recovering from the damage to its infrastructure from the months when, by U.S. military estimates, al-Qaida was the de-facto government for much of the city.

Gayath Sami, a retired colonel from the old Iraqi army, said the army and National Police should eventually withdraw from the city, but he is leery of the forces leaving too soon and leaving the mosque vulnerable.

"All of this violence happened after the destruction of the shrine," said Sami, director of the operations center. "They threw bodies in the street (during the subsequent fighting). We don’t want to go back to those bad years."

Most townspeople are quick to heap credit on the local "Sons of Iraq" program, sometimes to the exclusion of Iraqi soldiers and National Police, for bringing peace to Samarra. They say they feel doubly occupied — by U.S. troops on one hand and invaders from Baghdad on the other.

Local carpenter Abu Jafar, 33, says if the national forces leave, the townspeople will look out for the al-Askari mosque, as they have for centuries.

"We will protect it like our own family," he said.

Theories abound

With repairs to the al-Askari mosque still two years from completion, conspiracy theories float around town about the intentions of Iraq’s central government. Some doubt the troops will ever leave, and others think the Shiite-dominated government will try to change the demographics of the Sunni-dominated city.

Tension is especially pronounced between the national forces and the "Sons of Iraq."

"The National Police are to secure the golden mosque until it’s complete (and then leave)," said the vice president of the local "Sons of Iraq" organization, who goes by the name Abu Muhammed. "That is supposed to be their mission, but ask me if I believe that and I say, ‘No.’ The faster they leave, the better for the city."

The mistrust goes both ways. While Iraqi army and National Police commanders say they want to help the people, they also complain about a lack of support from the city’s residents. Sami, director of the operations center, believes Samarrans know who is behind the mosque bombings but won’t report them.

"If the people don’t give us information, we can’t protect them," Sami said. "The people of Samarra need to trust us."

At least five men have been held for allegedly orchestrating the bombings.

U.S. troops cast a wary eye toward this tension, seeing it as a threat to the fragile peace that has taken hold in Samarra — a microcosm of Iraq’s tenuous security improvements.

Addressing a monthly meeting of various local and national security forces in Samarra, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Sam Whitehurst reminded those assembled that they are on the same team.

"We must find a way to break down barriers between our forces and we must find ways to break down barriers between us and the [‘Sons of Iraq’]. We can’t shut them out."

The leader of Iraqi military operations in Samarra, Maj. Gen. Rashid Fleyah Muhammed, blames criticism of the Iraqi security forces on al-Qaida.

"There are a lot of people trying to create issues and escalate tensions in the city," he said. "They’re saying all kinds of bad things about the security forces.’’