BBC News with Gaenor Howells

President Obama has welcomed home some of the last US troops to return from Iraq to mark the end of nearly nine years of America's combat role in the country. Mr Obama was speaking at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He said he wanted to convey the gratitude of the American people to their military and described the moment as historic.

"One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq's future will be in the hands of its people. America's war in Iraq will be over."

Mr Obama praised the soldiers' courage and professionalism in a war that he said had come with the heavy cost in dead and wounded. Kim Ghattas reports.