VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Iraqi parliament's approval of a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal represents "a step forward," but the country still faces deep divisions and serious risks, an Iraqi archbishop said.

"Iraq is still profoundly divided within itself," Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk told the Rome-based agency AsiaNews Nov. 28.

"One cannot speak of national unity, and even the government recognizes this. Everyone is trying to gain greater influence in his own territory, and even the capital, Baghdad, which should represent the symbol of unity, is in reality subdivided into sectors controlled by very specific factions," Archbishop Sako said.

He made the comments the day after Iraq's parliament voted to approve a security pact that requires U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq no later than the end of 2011. Under the pact, the United States would remove combat forces from Iraqi cities and villages by the end of June 2009.

"The vote represents a step forward, but anything can happen, because the situation is still precarious. There is nothing stable or definitive; the country is going through a phase of fragile equilibrium that could collapse at any moment," Archbishop Sako said.

There remains the real threat of "a civil war if the nation is left to itself," he said.

The archbishop said the policies enacted by President-elect Barack Obama will be crucial for Iraq and the Middle East region.

"It is not possible to predict what initiatives the new American president will take, but his decisions will have a fundamental effect on future developments in the entire region," he said.

One lingering issue facing the incoming U.S. president, the archbishop noted, is Iran's nuclear development program.

"The Iranian nuclear menace is a concrete threat for Iraq and for all the countries of the Gulf. The Middle East is hanging in the balance, and there is a long way to go on the journey of peace," Archbishop Sako said.

© 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops