US President George W. Bush approved a covert plan to influence the outcome of Iraq's January 2005 election, but dropped it amid opposition from Congress, the New York Times reported Sunday.

After debate within the White House, "the president's national security team recommended that he sign a secret, formal authorization for covert action to influence the election," the Times said, citing "a dozen current and former government officials" familiar with the discussions.

"Bush either had already signed it or was about to when objections were raised in Congress. Ultimately, he rescinded the decision," the Times said.

All the sources spoke anonymously, except for Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council, who would not comment on whether a formal authorization ever existed.

"But there were concerns about efforts by outsiders to influence the outcome of the Iraqi elections, including money flowing from Iran," he was quoted as saying.

"This raised concerns about whether there would be a level playing field for the election. This situation posed difficult dilemmas about what action, if any, the United States should take in response," he said.

"In the final analysis the president determined and the United States government adopted a policy that we would not try - and did not try - to influence the outcome of the Iraqi election, by covertly helping individual candidates for office."

The White House declined to elaborate on whether covert action was provided to political parties favoured by Washington.

Jones' statement was issued in response to questions submitted about a report in an upcoming issue of The New Yorker magazine that states the administration proceeded with the plan despite Congressional objections.

The author of the magazine piece Seymour Hersh said the covert activities were conducted by retired CIA officers and non-governmental personnel but that "the methods and the scope of the covert effort have been hard to discern."

Source: China Daily