Bush Warns of Veto After Vote for Iraq Withdrawal

The US House of Representatives voted yesterday for legislation that sets a deadline of September 1 next year for bringing home American troops from Iraq.

George Bush immediately held a press conference at the White House, threatening to veto the bill and claiming that the deadline was arbitrary. The president said the bill had no chance of becoming law and described it as "political theatre".

The legislation attempts to wrest control of Iraq policy from Mr Bush by choking off funds for US troops from next month unless a withdrawal timetable is set. The president is seeking $100bn (£51bn) for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vote is hugely symbolic, confirming a public weariness with the war, and sets up the prospect of a prolonged tug-of-war between Congress and the White House.

John Murtha, a Democratic congressman who has long been campaigning for the return of the US troops, made an emotional plea before the vote. "We are going to make a difference. We are going to bring those troops home," he said.

The Democratic house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said: "The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war. The American people see the reality of the war; the president does not."

The legislation, initiated by the Democrats, was passed by 218 to 214. Although the party enjoys a much bigger majority, some strongly anti-war Democrats refused to back the bill because they want the troops to return earlier, while other Democrats felt the president's hands should not be tied over the conduct of war.

The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on its version of the bill but the Democrats enjoy only a slim majority there and the attachment of a timetable will almost certainly be defeated.

Intense negotiations will then take place between the house, the Senate and the White House on a compromise. The defence secretary, Robert Gates, warned that the department of defence - and the troops in the field - would suffer if the funding was not available next month.

In Iraq, the deputy prime minister, Salam al-Zubaie, was injured when a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to a vest forced his way into a private mosque by his home. Nine people were killed. Mr Zubaie was taken to hospital but there was no immediate news on his condition.