The legion of foreigners here includes soldiers, diplomats and contractors, but considering the religious overtones to so much of Iraq's strife, there are few outsiders toiling in the realm of faith itself. That's where British Anglican priest Andrew White comes in, with his soaring voice, blunt opinions and belief that a man of God can open doors closed to others in war.

White, president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, is currently working his clerical and political connections try to free five Britons kidnapped May 29 from a meeting at a Ministry of Finance office in Baghdad. At the same time, he is organizing a Pentagon-backed meeting of more than 40 Iraqi clerics to seek ways of calming the sectarian fighting. In both cases, White relies on long-standing relationships with those he calls "friends," including clerics who may or may not be inciting violence themselves. "You've got to know the landscape," he says in an interview with NEWSWEEK. "You've got to know the players, and you haven't just got to know them, you have to be their friend."