But many Iraqis aren't sorry to see the Georgians go - claiming they were disrespectful.

'They never respected us', college student Saad Hassan, 20, complained, saying Georgian soldiers would hold families at checkpoints for hours in hot and cold weather.

The former Soviet republic was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the US and Britain until it called its forces home after an outbreak of fighting with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The US military, which began flying the Georgians home on transport planes on Sunday, has acknowledged the decision would have a 'near-term impact' but insisted American commanders were making adjustments to minimize the disruption to operations.

Georgia agreed to move most of its soldiers last year from the relatively safe Green Zone in Baghdad to a mainly Shiite desert area south-east of the capital to help interdict supplies allegedly being smuggled to militiamen from Iran, particularly powerful roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs.

At the time, US commanders said the Georgians would give their strapped forces a boost by helping to search vehicles and people along highways leading to and from the border as part of stepped up efforts to stanch the flow of illegal arms and foreign fighters to Baghdad.

Citing security concerns, the US military declined to give specifics about unit changes to make up for the absence of the Georgians. But it said the Georgian brigade had searched 175,291 vehicles, 792,859 people and had conducted 2,469 patrols in the area since Oct 30, 2007.

However, three Georgian checkpoints on highways surrounding the area's main city of Kut, 160 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, were empty on Monday, residents and Iraqi officials said.

Mr Latif Hamad, the governor of Wasit province, which includes Kut, said the Georgians provided little real security and officials were considering removing the posts - long the source of tensions with the locals.

Maj Daniel Elliott, a spokesman for US forces south of Baghdad, refused to give specifics about the realignment of forces but said contingency plans were in place to aid the transition.

'We will make adjustments to ensure sustained operations and don't anticipate their departure will result in any significant long-term impact on the overall security situation in Iraq', he said.

'They were an important and valued partner and contributed quite a bit to the improved security in Wasit province where the bulk of their forces operated with us and our Iraqi security force partners', he added.

Local Iraqis were happy to see the Georgians leave, complaining that they could speak little English or Arabic, and were rude and disrespectful.

'They did not try to give us services, instead they were a source of annoyance by delaying us at their checkpoints and mocking the simple locals', said Mr Salim Ali, a 45-year-old farmer.

Gov Hamad also said the Georgians wouldn't be missed.

'I do not think that the departure of the Georgian soldiers will have an impact on the situation in the province', he said in a telephone interview.

'There were always language and poor performance problems. Our security forces can fill any vacuum'. The US military gave the Georgians a warm farewell and said it expected to have them all out of Iraq by early Tuesday, despite Russian protests over the flights.

'We want to thank them for the great support they've given the coalition and we wish them well', US military spokesman Rear Adm Patrick Driscoll said on Sunday at a news conference in Baghdad.

Small contingents of the Georgians did remain in Baghdad to help guard the Green Zone, which houses the US Embassy and Iraqi government offices.

The Pentagon has said the Georgians also were helping provide security for important bridges near Baqouba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, as well as for three coalition forward operating bases.

The US commander in northern Iraq said only about 80 of the Georgian troops had been deployed in his area, and the effect of their departure would be minimal.

'We've adapted quite frankly. These were good soldiers but we've been able to adapt the battle space to account for their loss', US Army Maj Gen Mark Hertling told a Pentagon press conference, speaking from a US base outside Tikrit.

At least five Georgians soldiers have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. -- AP