U.S. Senate Appoves $65 Billion For Iraq, Afghanistan

A U.S. Marine stands next to his ISAF colleagues as during the change of command ceremony in Kabul today (epa) May 4, 2006 -- The U.S. Senate today approved a finance bill of $109 billion, which includes emergency funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some $65 billion is to pay for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and $29 billion for rebuilding the damage caused to southern U.S. states by last summer's Hurrricane Katrina.

But correspondents say the bill risks being vetoed by President George W. Bush because legislators have inflated it by some $14 billion by adding financing for extra projects not sought by the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist promised to ensure that the price tag was reduced in negotiations with the House of Representatives, in a bid to help the bill avoid a presidential veto.

(AFP, Reuters)