WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration plans to rebuff an effort in Congress to stop U.S. plans to sell the advanced Harpoon sea-to-sea missile to Egypt.

U.S. officials said the administration has determined that the Harpoon will not change the military balance in the Middle East. They said this includes the balance between Egypt and Israel.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Harpoon sale is part of U.S. efforts to help Egypt expand its capabilities to protect shipping in the Gulf of Suez. Boucher said the Harpoon is more advanced than previous systems sold to Egypt and can strike land as well as sea targets.

"The sale of Harpoons is part of an ongoing, longstanding cooperation we have had with the Egyptian military," Boucher said. "This is a follow-on to a system that they already have. We have encouraged them to expand their abilities to protect shipping in the Suez, including U.S. warships that use that a lot."

Boucher said Secretary of State Colin Powell did not raise with his Egyptian counterpart reports that North Korea signed a deal to supply Cairo with No-Dong missiles. The spokesman said the issue was probably discussed between other U.S. officials and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.

On Friday, U.S. administration officials will brief Congress on military relations with Egypt. This will include reports that North Korea has signed a deal to supply Egypt with the No-Dong intermediate-range missile.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfeld said the administration will not suspend plans to sell the Harpoon to Egypt.

Satterfield, who met visting Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, said the Harpoon does not threaten the region. The missiles would be deployed on four fast attack craft built by Halter Marine Inc. of Gulfport, Miss.

Under the deal, the United States would supply 53 Harpoon Block II missiles to Egypt. Cairo would use some of the $1.3 billion annual U.S. military aid to Egypt to pay for the missiles.

Pro-Israeli groups have also joined opposition to the Harpoon sale. They said Egypt has failed the United States as an ally in the aftermath of the Islamic suicide attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11. The groups also said the Harpoon missile will endanger Israel.

"Congress must stop the Harpoon missile sale to Egypt," the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs said. "The United States can no longer afford the luxury of pretending that we don't understand the political ramifications of our blanket policy of arms sales to nasty regimes."

Last week, a confidential State Department memo alerted Congress to the proposed Harpoon sale. Congress has a 30-day period to respond to the sale and another 30 days to oppose the deal.

Should President George Bush veto the congressional resolution, Congress would require a two-thirds majority to block the sale. This has never taken place regarding U.S. sales to Arab allies.

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