Access Denied when Using birdc

Hello BIRD users, I am trying to automate some configuration of BIRD by changing its configuration file (/etc/bird.conf). However, when I try to apply the changes using: # birdc -r "configure" I get: BIRD 1.6.3 ready.Access restrictedAccess denied I am using BIRD 1.6.3 as you see above. Thanks in advance!Regards,Firas