The US House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of 2009, while rejecting a spending measure of $163 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many of the minority Republicans, protesting Democratic tactics to push through a bill that President George W. Bush has already threatened to veto, refused to vote on the war-spending measure, leading to its 149-141 defeat.
But the Democrats managed to pass a measure by a 227-196 vote to begin withdrawals within 30 days of congressional approval and have the pullout completed by December 2009.
Some Republicans joined Democrats in voting for a provision to increase spending to pay for the university education of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans by a 256-166 tally.
Bush has said that the bill would impose unacceptable restrictions on his ability to conduct the war in Iraq and includes too much for spending on domestic programmes that should not be included in a supplemental war budget.
The upper Senate has yet to take up the legislation.