A House bill approved U.S. military programs in Iraq and other Middle East countries.

In 368-58 vote, the House approved an $81 billion emergency supplemental spending bill that allocated aid to such countries as Iraq, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The aid, approved on May 5, included security assistance, particularly relating to the war against Al Qaida.

The House bill included $100 million for security aid to Jordan, Middle East Newsline reported.

Officials said the money would support ongoing Jordanian counterterror operations, including border security.

The kingdom has also been building a Special Operations Forces Command for counter-insurgency operations. In 2005, the military planned to launch an air arm for the SOF command.

The House also approved $200 million in economic and infrastructure assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. About $150 million was allocated to help Palestinian security and economy.

Another $50 million would be provided for assistance to Israel to improve the efficiency and security of the flow of people and goods from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Israel. The bill would require the Government Accountability Office, the fiscal watchdog of Congress, to audit U.S. aid for the Palestinian territories and would allocate $5 million for an independent audit of the Palestinian Authority.

The bill was expected to be passed by the Senate this week and then sent to President George Bush to be signed into law. The bill came out of a conference committee that resolved differences between House and Senate versions of the spending bill.

Under the bill, $4.1 billion would be allocated for international security programs. The allocation includes funding for Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Pakistan.

The lion's share of the funding, $75.9 billion, was meant to finance military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bill was the fifth emergency-spending plan Bush has sent to Congress for foreign military operations since the Al Qaida attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.

Under the bill, the military would spend $17.4 billion for new weapons purchases. They would include the procurement of body armor, medical supplies, night-vision devices, communications equipment, weapons, ammunition, radio jammers and advanced armor kits for combat vehicles.

The State Department also would receive funding for international peacekeeping, including missions in Sudan. The bill would appropriate about $400 million for humanitarian assistance in Darfour.