US to up intelligence in Iraq

BAGHDAD: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called yesterday for greater intelligence cooperation between the US and Iraq as the American military moves to withdraw its forces from the country by 2012.

Pelosi told reporters she had discussed intelligence sharing with Iraqi lawmakers after she arrived for a one-day visit. She was accompanied by Representatives Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who chairs a House committee that oversees US intelligence operations.

"If we are going to have a diminished physical military presence, we are have to have a strong intelligence presence," Pelosi said.