Bush under fire over Iraq

By David Bamford
BBC correspondent in Washington

President George W Bush is coming under increasing pressure from his own Republican Party to disclose how much financing will be required to cover the costs of occupying and reconstructing Iraq.

The pressure follows the acknowledgement last week by the head of the American-led administration in Iraq, Paul Bremer, that the country needed tens of billions of dollars to build its shattered infrastructure.

Mr Bremer's statement last week that it was almost impossible to exaggerate Iraq's economic needs has set off alarm bells in Washington in the Republican camp.

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