State Dept.: No secrets on long-term agreements with Iraq

From CNN's Charley Keyes

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The U.S. State Department is pledging "no secrets" on its long term agreements with Iraq, and says it will keep Congress informed as well.

"Of course" the department will reply to a letter from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and three other senior members of the committee from both parties, said spokesman Sean McCormack. In the letter, the senators ask for "detailed consultations" with both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates about agreements being negotiated with Iraq.

McCormack said there already have been extensive, serious initial consultations. "We are committed to a transparent kind of cooperation with Capitol Hill to update them on where we are on these consultations," he said at his midday briefing.