By Michael Christie
BAGHDAD, April 16 (Reuters) - Iraq's urgent need for weaponry to tackle an expected increase in insurgent attacks when U.S. forces withdraw means it may have to shift away from buying U.S. arms, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.
Zebari told Reuters the need to prepare to fight insurgents without U.S. help coincided with a depleted budget due to low oil prices, prompting Iraq to look to arms vendors it sees as cheaper -- and faster -- than U.S. suppliers.
Zebari mentioned Russia, China and France as countries from which Iraq has bought weapons in the past.
Iraq recently said it wants F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp, is buying M1A1 Abrams tanks from General Dynamics Corp and may buy helicopters from Textron Inc and Boeing Co., but it has also raised the prospect of procuring helicopters from France for instance.
"There are some imminent security challenges and we have seen the tip of that," Zebari said on Wednesday, referring to a recent spate of bombings that have alarmed Iraqis as they ponder whether dramatic security gains in the past year will hold.
"We need to do some preventative actions, not to allow that to be a phenomenon. And in order to do that we need more resources. We need to be ready, you need to have the right weapons, the right forces, the right commitment."
Violence in Iraq remains at the lowest levels since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, and the government has flung open the doors to foreign investors, particularly in its oil fields, which hold the world's third largest crude reserves.
But the sectarian slaughter that killed tens of thousands has left deep scars and potentially explosive tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs, and ethnic Kurds.
Widespread optimism early in the year as Iraqis voted in a peaceful provincial election has been replaced by apprehension after the string of bombings, and clashes between forces of the Shi'ite-led government and a Sunni Arab militia in Baghdad.
In the latest violence, a suicide bomber killed at least 16 Iraqi soldiers on Thursday at a military base in Anbar province.
Zebari said the downward trend in violence continued.
ANTICIPATION NOT APPREHENSION
The air of "anticipation" had emerged because of a number of critical moments ahead, he said, the first being the June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from cities, which groups like al Qaeda will try to exploit for their own ends.
"So as we get closer I would anticipate that a number of these attacks could happen," he said.
Zebari said the awareness of imminent security challenges at a time when its resources are limited was a reason Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussed reviving Iraqi-Russian military and technical ties during a visit to Moscow last week.
Procuring U.S. weaponry was "too slow and more expensive" even if Washington had been very generous in training and equipping Iraqi security forces, he said.
"Historically Iraq has diversified its sources of equipment. So I think there is no objection to that."
Zebari also said some recent bombings might have occurred because of overconfidence due to the sharp drop in violence.
"You should not drop your guard as the security forces and there have been a number of security breaches, of relaxations as (people think) that things are back to normal."
Other contributors to an atmosphere of anticipation are political tensions ahead of more elections this year, including a parliamentary ballot at the end of the year, and political struggles to form provincial councils after polls in January.
"The worst nightmares are over," Zebari said.
"Iraq still needs more time to recover and the situation needs continued commitment and support by the international community and by Iraq's neighbours for this steady progress to be durable." (Editing by Mohammed Abbas and Dominic Evans)