The US Congress is forming a bipartisan group to assess the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and political and economic developments in the troubled country, local mass media reported Tuesday.

Five Republicans and five Democrats will serve on the group, including former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Robert M. Gates, director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1993, and former Sen. Charles Robb.

The study was requested by Congress and will be announced Wednesday on Capitol Hill by Baker and Lee H. Hamilton, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former member of Congress as providing a fresh look at Iraq.

The United States Institute of Peace and three private think tanks are supporting the inquiry. Four working groups will be assigned to assess the strategic situation in Iraq, formation of a government in Baghdad, political development and the Iraqi economy.

During the investigation, outside experts will be consulted and the working groups will make several trips to Iraq, the reports said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2006)