Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.26 / Trend , U. Sadikhova /
Parliamentary elections results in Iraq will probably depend on how much money will be invested in the campaign of each party and what methods will be applied by third countries, Ghassan Attiyah, head of the Iraqi Foundation for Development and Democracy, said.
"Now there is a 'secret war' between Iran and some Arab countries headed by Saudi Arabia. Each of them will invest money and will try to strengthen their parties," Attiyah told Trend over the phone from London.
"The election results will show who has the biggest impact in Iraq - the Iranians, the allies, the Saudis or the Americans," he said.
Attiyah said that it is early to predict election results, because it depends on the money spent and pressure leverages.
"Naturally, none of them [Iran, the United States, Saudi Arabia] state openly that they attempt to exert pressure on the elections," Attiyah said.
On the eve of parliamentary elections in Iraq, which will be the second after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, former Iraqi prime minister, leader of a secular Sunni-Shi'ite coalition, held talks with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz last week
Shi'ite Allawi headed Iraq before the elections in 2005, in which the ruling prime minister, head of the Shi'ite party Al-Dawa Nuri al-Maliki, won.
Earlier, Saleh al-Mutlaq, along with other Sunni representatives, was barred from participating in the elections because of ties with Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, which is banned in Iraq.
Observers believe that the main struggle in these elections will be between pro-Iranian Shi'ite parties, Sunni parties, supported by Saudi Arabia, and Kurdish politicians struggling against independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq.
Attiyah beleives that none of the parties will be able to get the majority of votes because the new government will be a coalition government.
According to Attiyah, the results of the March elections will show which of the parties - pro-Iranian, Saudi or pro-American - will rule in Iraq.
At the same time, Washington is concerned about the exclusion of a large number of Sunni politicians from the electoral lists, which can lead to a new outbreak of violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites and may jeopardize the withdrawal of U.S. troops in late 2011 after a seven-year presence.
"Now, the Americans are in a difficult position: they want to withdraw their troops from Iraq, but they need to make sure that the new government will not be under the pressure of Iran. The Unites States still has 100,000 troops and the largest CIA station in the world in Iraq. That's why every side will try to influence the elections. Politicians are talking about free and democratic elections, but actually now the strong parties are playing the role of a proxy on behalf of the United States, Iran or some Arab countries," Attiyah believes.