Maliki, Rice head coordinative committee meeting

PM-Rice BAGHDAD / Aswat a;-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday headed the first meeting of the Iraqi-U.S. coordinative committee via a video conference, a source from the council of ministers said. “The meeting, chaired by al-Maliki and Rice, was held via a video conference and was attended by senior officials from both sides,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The meeting was attended also by the two deputy premier Burham Saleh and Rafeaa al-Eissawi , Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Interior Minister Jawad al-Boulani, National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaei, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and other U.S. officials,” a joint statement of the Iraqi government and U.S. embassy said. “The meeting is considered the official start of implementing the strategic framework agreement which will develop Iraqi-U.S. relations,” the statement added. “Rice and Maliki re-underlined their desire to establish relations of cooperation and friendship between the two countries,” it said. SH (S)/SR 1