Bush Set to Veto Bill on Iraq Withdrawal

President George Bush is set today to veto a bill that would bring in a timetable to begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq in October and have most of them out by next spring.

The White House spokesman, Tony Snow, yesterday criticised Congress, which passed the bill on Thursday, for delaying sending it to the White House. "It's now been passed for five days. We're not quite sure why it's been so difficult to convey it one mile up Pennsylvania Avenue."

Congress, in the first big trial of strength with the White House since the Democrats won control of both chambers in November, plans to send the bill to the White House today. It would tie the withdrawal timetable to about $90bn ( £45bn) needed to fund the Iraq war over the next 12 months.

The tussle between Congress and the White House came as the Pentagon disclosed that five US soldiers were killed in Iraq over the weekend, bringing the US toll for April to 100, the worst month of the year so far. The US has lost 351 troops since January when the symbolically important 3,000th US death was reached.

The mounting death toll is contributing to a steady erosion in support for the war. But a new poll showed a slim majority, 52% , supporting Mr Bush's veto. The poll, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, found that 77% of Democrats opposed the veto, while 64% of Republicans were in favour.

After Mr Bush exercises his veto either today or tomorrow, only the second time he has done so during his presidency - the other was on stem cell research last year - he will invite congressional leaders to open talks aimed at finding a new bill acceptable to the White House.

The Democrats are prepared to maintain the stalemate for several weeks in an attempt to force concessions from Mr Bush. But they do not want to be blamed for denying funds to troops in the field.

Mr Snow, who returned to his job yesterday after surgery for cancer, insisted that Mr Bush would not negotiate and what was important was to give the troops the support they needed now. "We have already been forced to start reallocating money within the defence budget. By the 15th of this month, it's going to become more acute, and all of a sudden, people who say they support the troops are going to have to explain why if they support the troops, number one, they drag their feet on sending a supplemental to the White House."

He added: "We're fighting the war, and it's an important thing to understand that the only way to lose the war is to walk away from it."