Loading up the bill with funds for drought relief, hurricane rebuilding and other enticements, U.S. House Of

Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and her lieutenants have worked to clinch the necessary votes -- 218 of the House's 435 members -- to pass a $124.1 billion (63 billion pounds) bill that mostly funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Bush wants the money to keep American forces in Iraq, but Democrats have made the spending bill the focus of their efforts to end the conflict, which is now in its fifth year with more than 3,200 U.S. troops killed and over 20,000 wounded.

Democrats have been split though, with liberals calling for a quicker withdrawal date than the bill sets and moderates worried they might be depicted as undermining U.S. troops by putting strings on the war-fighting funds.

Under the House Democrats' bill, U.S. combat troops would have to be out of Iraq by September 1, 2008. The White House has warned Bush would veto any bill with deadlines for withdrawal. But Democrats are anticipating that and are already eyeing other bills coming up to attach similar language while building pressure for an end to the war.

Backing Bush, House Republicans claimed unity against the Democrats' bill. War funds should have "no strings attached," said House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

'BIG TEST'

Some liberal Democrats are supporting Pelosi's bill even though they want an earlier troop pullout, letting Democratic leaders claim momentum going into the vote.

Rep. James Moran, a Virginia Democrat on the House committee that oversees defence spending, said the vote "is really the first big test of whether we can pull together the left and the right. It is a test of our leadership."

Reuters