Senator Frist calls to block U.A.E. port sale

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist called Tuesday for the Bush administration to stop a deal permitting a United Arab Emirates company to take over six major U.S. seaports, upping the ante on a fight that several congressmen, governors and mayors are waging with the White House.\n"The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."\nBut at the Pentagon, the UAE was praised as an important strategic military partner by both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. \n"Nothing changes with respect to security under the contract," Rumsfeld said. "The Coast Guard is in charge of security, not the corporation."\nHe added that the U.S. deals with the U.A.E. on a regular basis and they are a country that have been involved in combating the global war on terror. \nPace said that "military cooperation is superb" with the U.A.E.\nAnd at the State Department, deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the U.A.E. would not be in charge of security at the ports and said the administration's first priority is homeland security.\nIn the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration's decision to allow the transaction is threatening to develop a major political headache for the White House.\n"I'm not against foreign ownership," said Frist, "but my main concern is national security." He was speaking to reporters in Long Beach, Calif., where Frist was doing a fact-finding tour on port security and immigration issues.\nThe administration, however, insisted that national security issues had received a full airing before the interagency panel that reviews such transactions gave the go-ahead for the deal.\nFrist, R-Tenn., spoke as other lawmakers, including Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said they would offer emergency legislation next week to block the deal ahead of a planned March 2 takeover.\nFrist's move comes a day after two Republican governors, New York's George Pataki and Maryland's Robert Ehrlich, voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the U.A.E. \nThe British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.\nBoth governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DPW takeover.\n"Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World," Pataki said in a statement. "I have directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options that may be available to them."\nEhrlich, concerned about security at the Port of Baltimore, said Monday he was "very troubled" that Maryland officials got no advance notice before the Bush administration approved the Arab company's takeover of the operations at the six ports.\n"We needed to know before this was a done deal, given the state of where we are concerning security," Ehrlich told reporters in the State House rotunda in Annapolis.\nThe arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover.\nPublic fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected, combined with news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports, proved a combustible mix.\nCritics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.\nAssociated Press writers Devlin Barrett in Washington, Matthew Verrinder in Newark, N.J., and Tom Stuckey in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this story.