Washington ? The Bush administration said Sunday it will accept an extraordinary offer by a United Arab Emirates-based company to submit to a second – and broader – U.S. review of potential security risks in its deal to take over significant operations at six leading American ports. The plan averts an impending political showdown.

The Treasury Department said in a statement it will promptly begin the review once the company formally files a request for one. It said the same government panel that earlier investigated the deal but found no reason for national security concerns will reconsider it.

In six pages of documents sent earlier in the day to the White House, Dubai-based DP World asked for a 45-day investigation of plans to run shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

The announcement means the White House likely won’t face a revolt by fellow Republicans when lawmakers return today from a weeklong break. A united Republican Party can assert that its leaders – both in Congress and at the White House – have taken steps to protect national security.

In a statement Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he will recommend that the Senate wait for results of the broader review before acting on legislation to delay or block the deal.

DP World’s offer was highly unusual. The secretive U.S. committee that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry has conducted such full investigations only about two dozen times among the more than 1,500 international deals it has reviewed.

The company said that during the review, or until May 1, a London-based executive who is a British citizen would control DP World’s U.S. operations.

President Bush forcefully has defended his administration’s earlier approval of DP World’s proposal to buy London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.