BAGHDAD, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Iraq said on Wednesday it was ready to take over security responsibilities from US security forces in Baghdad as both countries say they are nearing a deal on their controversial military pact.

Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf said Iraqi police are capable of handling security duties across the capital, a responsibility now held by US troops.

'We have the ability to take over the internal security responsibility in Baghdad if American forces pull out of the city,' he said in a statement. 'The interior ministry is able to take responsibility for protecting Baghdad.'

His remarks came a day after Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Washington and Baghdad are now 'very close' to an agreement on the presence of American troops in the country beyond 2008.

'There have been new ideas and new language that could be acceptable, but no final decision has been made. This needs some bold political decisions now,' Zebari said on Tuesday.

Zebari was speaking at a press conference with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte shortly after two bombs went off just outside the Green Zone, leaving at least seven people, including an Iraqi soldier, injured.

The interior ministry said there had been an increase in the number of car bombs and roadside blasts in Baghdad since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but claimed this did not mean a breakdown of security.

'An increase in car bomb attacks and IED (improvised explosive device) attacks, particularly since Ramadan (last month) does not mean that security forces failed,' the statement said.

Khalaf said Iraqi security services lacked explosive detectors to prevent car bombs, but otherwise had been effective in reducing the overall level of violence in the country, which is said to be at a four-year low.

The ministry 'is seeking with some provincial councils to import such devices and technologies to cover all areas of Baghdad and other provinces,' he said.

The US military has handed over security responsibilities in 11 of the 18 provinces in Iraq since June 2006. The gradual process started with the southern Shiite province of Muthanna, which borders Saudi Arabia.