White House Bush approves Dubai defense purchase

WASHINGTON, Apr 28 (Reuters) President George W Bush approved Dubai's 1.24 billion dollars takeover of Doncasters, a British engineering company with US plants that supply the Pentagon, the White House said today.

The decision, announced by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, followed a congressional uproar over security fears that scuttled another Dubai state-owned company's plan to acquire operations at major US ports.

The interagency Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States sent its confidential recommendation on the Dubai takeover of Doncasters to Bush on April 13.

''The president this morning accepted the committee's recommendation,'' McClellan said. ''The committee recommended approval of the transaction after closely scrutinizing it and concluding that it would not compromise our national security.'' REUTERS CH BD2033