COUNTRIES JOCKEY FOR POSTWAR POSITION.(Main)

Byline: Ruth Sinai Associated Press

The countries that fought Iraq, along with some important ones that sat out the conflict, are jockeying for position on the crowded postwar playing field.

Their wish list reflects disparate interests, and the United States faces the difficult task of making sure that the glue that held the war together can also hold the peace.

What do these countries want?

*Saudi Arabia.

"They want to be left alone to enjoy their wealth and peace," says Michael Mandelbaum of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

For the most part, Saudi Arabia wants to return to the status quo of pre-invasion days, although it might seek a more active role in regional politics now that Iraq has been removed as the predominant power.

The Saudis, who asked …