US President George W Bush, under political pressure to cancel a deal for a state-owned Arab company to operate terminals at six US ports, has won some breathing space after the company announced a delay in implementing the US takeover.
The United Arab Emirates company DP World said it would go ahead with a $6.85 billion deal to acquire the port operations of P&O but would make special arrangements for the US ports involved while it discussed security concerns.
'In practice, this will mean that DP World will not exercise control over, or otherwise influence, the management of P&O's U.S. operations pending the outcome of these further discussions,' the company said in a statement.
The issue blew up in Washington in the past week with many senior figures in Bush's Republican Party as well as Democrats vowing to stop the deal because it could threaten US security. They said they should have been informed about it in advance.
Bush insisted the deal was safe and that the company's home base, the United Arab Emirates, was a close ally in his war against terrorism. But other Republicans feared it would undermine the party's image as tough on security before this year's congressional election. Late on Thursday, Bush's senior adviser Karl Rove had said the president would accept a brief delay.
