The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Chicago

US President-elect Barack Obama said on Friday that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons was "unacceptable" and he would "respond appropriately" to a congratulatory letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Obama, speaking at his first press conference since winning Tuesday's presidential election, also said the Islamic Republic must stop supporting "terrorist organizations."

The Democratic president-elect confirmed that he had been sent a letter from Ahmadinejad following his historic victory over Republican John McCain.

"I am aware that the letter was sent," Obama said in response to the only question of the press conference about foreign policy. "I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad and we will respond appropriately."

"It has only been three days since the election," he added. "Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion.

"I think we've got to think it through."

Asked whether he would send low-level envoys to US foes such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba to see if presidential-level talks could be "productive," Obama responded by condemning Iran's nuclear program.

"Let me repeat and state what I stated during the course of the campaign," he said. "Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening."

AP report from Baghdad: Two Iraqi insurgent groups called on President-elect Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and abandon the war on terror, an Internet monitoring service reported Friday.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-styled head of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a speech posted on an extremist Web site that it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors militant Web sites.

"You do not interfere in the affairs of our countries," he continued in an apparent reference to Muslim dominated nations. "We, in turn, will not prevent commerce with you, whether it is in oil or otherwise."

Al-Baghdadi blamed the global financial crisis on the wars "launched in Muslim countries" and said he was issuing the call on behalf of "my brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Chechnya," SITE said.

The U.S. military says al-Baghdadi is an actor who provides a voice for al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda.

In a separate statement, the Mujahedeen Army, a Sunni insurgent group, urged Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq or face "days that will be more difficult than the nightmare experienced by his predecessor."