Iraq: 'Cherchez' Iran

Last week during a surprise visit to Baghdad the United Arab Emirates' foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced that the Arab Gulf nation will name an ambassador to Baghdad in the coming days to become the first Arab country to restore full diplomatic ties to Iraq following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

A similar move was declared in Manama when Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa said on Sunday that the tiny Gulf state is to appoint an ambassador to Iraq, following strong US pressure for Arab countries to play a bigger political role in the war- torn nation to counter Iranian influence and promote reconciliation between Iraq's rival Sunni and Shia communities.

On Monday, Jordan also said that it will dispatch an envoy to Iraq, nearly five years after a truck bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad killing 17 people.

Many of the Middle East's Sunni-led governments have been wary of establishing a full diplomatic presence in Baghdad because of security fears and mistrust of the Shia-led government's ties to Iran, which has a fully accredited ambassador there.

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http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/901/re4.htm