Bush under increasing pressure over controversial seaports sale

US President W Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major US seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal had already been approved by his administration, the White House said yesterday.

Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats.

On Tuesday Bush brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defence of his administration’s earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.