Azerbaijan, Baku, July 1 / Trend , U.Sadikhova /
The main problem facing Iraq after the withdrawal of American troops will be security, and it will be caused by economic interests of western and neighboring countries in Iraq, said Ahmed al-Tagi, head of Studies Centre of Kirkuk City.
"The Iraqi oil provides an excellent opportunity for foreign investment. Those controlling Iraq control the flow of foreign capital into the country, al-Tagi said told Trend by telephone. - Political conflict in Iraq may arise due to the clash of economic interests."
On June 30, the United States completed the withdrawal of the soldiers and military equipment from Iraqi cities and towns that had been there for six years since March 2003.
The remaining 134,000 troops will remain in the country by 2011, they will be placed in military bases outside populated settlements, and in several large cities, dpa reported. But the responsibility for ensuring security and maintaining law and order was put on the Iraqi army and police, who will be trained by American and British soldiers.
Due to the withdrawal of American troops, the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced Tuesday, June 30, a national holiday.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq an important event in the history of this country, after which, however, difficult times will come for the Iraqi government, RIA Novosti reported.
Al Tagi believes that considering the interference of Saudi Arabia and Iran in the internal affairs of Iraq, mostly problems will appear in the security of the country. Already at the time of the withdrawal of troops, two powerful explosions were committed in Iraq, Baghdad and Kirkuk, which shows the inability of Iraqi forces to control the situation in the country without the help of the Americans, said the Iraqi political analyst.
The worsening in the situation can arise because of attempts to establish a control over the Iraqi oil sector, which already can transfer to foreign oil companies, said Al-Tagi.
On Tuesday, British BP Oil Company won an international bid to develop the largest oil field in Iraq - "Rumaila", Rosbalt reported. BP became the first Western company obtaining a contract to develop Iraqi oil field.
Also, the applications were submitted by the U.S. Exxon Mobile Company, Dutch Royal Dutch Company for development of the oil field in Iraq "Zubayr", with reserves of 4 billion barrels.
Russian Gazprom, together with the Indian ONGC and Turkish Petroleum Corp, filed a joint application.
Iraq takes the third place in the world for oil reserves, estimated at 115 billion barrels.
Al-Tagi added that even before the invasion of troops in Iraq, the oil and investment prospects of the Iraqi economy attracted European countries and the United States.
"Foreign interference was the result of economic interests rather than political," said Al-Tagi.
As a result of the invasion of American and coalition forces in 2003, the regime of Saddam Hussein, who was sentenced to death and executed in December 2005, was overthrown.
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