Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq 

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. bipartisan group examining the Bush administration's Iraq policy on Wednesday reached consensus on its recommendations to the White House and Congress, its co-chairman said.

    Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic House member from Indiana, said the 10-member Iraq Study Group had reached consensus Wednesday afternoon and would announce its report on Dec. 6.

    "This afternoon, we reached a consensus," Hamilton said at a forum on national security at the Center for American Progress.

    He refused to disclose details of the group's recommendations, to be included in a report the commission would issue on Dec. 6.

    President George W. Bush and lawmakers were likely to be briefed on recommendations before the public release of the report.

    The group, which was headed by Hamilton and former secretary of state James A. Baker III, a Republican, favored a regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria.

    Media reports have said the panel, created in March, was divided on whether to include a declaration that within a specified period of time a significant number of American troops should be withdrawn from Iraq, and might link American withdrawal to the performance of the Iraqi military.

    The group was expected to recommend regional talks involving Syria and Iran, despite the Bush administration's reluctance to engage those two countries, but it was not clear what recommendations it would make regarding U.S. troops levels in Iraq.

    Earlier this month, the commission met with Bush and members ofhis foreign policy team, and interviewed British Prime Minister Tony Blair by videoconference, as part of its final round of interviews.

    The White House, which has faced enormous pressure for a major change in its Iraq policy following the midterm elections on Nov. 7 in which Democrats retook control of both houses of Congress, also launched an internal review of its Iraq policy this month, to assess the situation in Iraq, review the options and recommend the best way forward.