U.S. President George W. Bush made it clear on Tuesday that the deal that allows an Arab company to take over six major U.S. seaports must go forward, and threatened to veto any congressional effort to stop it.

"I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One bound to Washington.

He said the deal has been reviewed by his administration and the takeover is "a legitimate deal that will not jeopardize the security of the country."

Bush's words dealt with a controversy that is becoming a major headache for his government.

Hours earlier, Bill Frist, the leader of the president's own Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, urged the administration to stop the transaction, under which a British company that has been running six U.S. ports would be acquired by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates.

Two Republican governors, New York's George Pataki and Maryland's Robert Ehrlich, voiced their own doubts a day earlier.

But Bush said sternly Congress and other politicians must understand what is at stake, and that he will not back down.

If the lawmakers make any legislative move to block the deal, the president warned that he will "deal with it with a veto."

Officials from several Bush administration departments defendedthe port deal.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said a risk assessment byU.S. intelligence community and decided there was no objection on national security grounds.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended the United Arab Emirates as a close ally of the United States.

U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight a year and only some 5 percent of containers are examined on arrival.

Source: Xinhua