Article: Prospects for Mideast cooperation on Iraq; How vested interests, trade, and mixed views on the US create a political and economic tangle for Iraq's neighbors.(USA)

Byline: Howard LaFranchi Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON -- By some estimates, up to $60 million in cash flows from Saudi Arabia and Iran into Iraq each month in an attempt to influence the direction of a key but unsettled - and malleable - country.

In the process, political affiliations are solidified, arms and other trappings of power are procured, and ideological leanings and transnational ties are enhanced.

The money flow is just one example of the importance of Iraq's relations with its many - sometimes powerful - neighbors, relations that are coming under growing scrutiny as Iraq moves toward taking back control ...

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