Iran and Saudi push Iraqi influence as US draws down focus 04/16/2010

Iran and Saudi push Iraqi influence as US draws down

focus 04/16/2010 BAGHDAD — Iran and Saudi Arabia are bolstering their influence in Iraq weeks after a closely-fought election while the United States becomes increasingly focused on ensuring a smooth military exit, analysts say. The composition of Iraq’s next government remains unclear after a March 7 ballot ended in stalemate but the clout of key neighbor countries has seen Baghdad politicians journeying to regional capitals to obtain their blessing. “The effective and psychological withdrawal of the US opens the way to other actors,” Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, which studies conflict-torn nations, told AFP. “Until now the negotiations for the formation of the government were done in the Green Zone, the symbol of the American occupation. Now it is being done, in part, in the capitals of neighboring states,” he said..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100416com7.html

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