There are no good solutions for dealing with the war in Iraq, says former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

It's important to work more for a political solution. There is no military solution, she said yesterday at a news conference at The Jefferson Hotel, where she was among four people honored by the Council for America's First Freedom.

"I would not add troops," Albright said. "I would be talking to the Iranians and Syrians about a regional solution."

The U.S. presence in Iraq is like flypaper and draws out the insurgents, she added.

Albright received the council's distinguished service award for "advancing freedom of conscience and basic human rights for people of all faiths, traditions and cultures." Abdelfattah Amor, former U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, was given the international award. Kevin "Seamus" Hasson, founder and chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, was presented the national award.

Azizah al-Hibri, professor of law at University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law, was recognized for Virginia service. Al-Hibri frequently visits Muslim countries where she discusses issues of importance to Muslim women with their religious, political and scholarly leaders. She has written extensively on issues of Muslim women's rights, Islam and democracy, and human rights in Islamic countries.

In her keynote address, Albright said people should treat one another's religious beliefs with respect.

That means knowing as much as possible about the true tenets of one's faith and knowing enough about another's faith to understand why they believe what they do, she said.

"It requires also that we avoid four tendencies: to demand that others become like us; to demand that others do our will; to demand that others be excluded from society; and to act as if the welfare of others doesn't matter," Albright added.

"But respect for others does not require that we weaken or dilute our own beliefs," she said. "On the contrary."