US President Bush on 6 October announced the creation of a new Iraq Stabilisation Group headed by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. The group is designed to allow the White House to take a more direct role in decision-making on Iraq. Four co-ordinating committees on counter-terrorism, economic development, political affairs and media relations will report directly to Rice. Each committee will include an undersecretary from the State, Defence and Treasury Departments, and senior representatives from the CIA, reported the daily New York Times. The move is seen as a way of shifting responsibility for the reconstruction of the country away from the US Department of Defence.