WASHINGTON, Nov 19: In a hastily arranged vote by the ruling Republican Party, the US House of Representatives has rejected calls for withdrawing US troops from Iraq. The vote followed a proposal on Thursday by Rep John P. Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a decorated Marine Corps veteran, that the US start pulling out of Iraq.

The Republican Party countered the move by introducing its own resolution: “It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.”

As expected, the Republican-dominated House, which went to a two-week Thanksgiving break from Saturday, quashed the resolution. In a midnight vote, as many as 403 lawmakers voting against the resolution while only three voted in favour.

Immediately after the voting, Democrats accused Republicans of orchestrating a political stunt that prohibited thoughtful debate on the issue.

The Republicans defended their move by saying that an escalating debate over the war had left the impression around the world that Congress was withdrawing support to the US presence in Iraq. Rep Duncan Hunter, a Republican from El Cajon, who sponsored the resolution, said it was “a legitimate question” and by rejecting the demand for troops withdrawal the House has let the world know that it fully backed the US-led war in Iraq. The midnight debate often reflected unruly scenes witnessed in Third World parliaments. House members frequently spoke out of turn. The presiding officer repeatedly called for order.

“Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on our present course,” said Rep Murtha, one of the House’s most respected military hawks. He said the Republican resolution was not the thoughtful approach he had suggested to bring the troops safely home in six months.

The House action came in a week that also saw the Republican-controlled Senate defeat a Democratic push for President Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Instead, senators approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of US forces.

“Congress in strong, bipartisan fashion rejected the call to cut and run,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan, travelling with Mr Bush in Asia, said in a statement. Earlier, President Bush called an immediate troop withdrawal “a recipe for disaster.”