Republican hopefuls back scrutiny of foreign deals

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Top Republican presidential candidates said on Tuesday they could support the foreign purchase of U.S. assets, such as part of the Nasdaq, as long as the deals passed rigorous national security reviews.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and the state-owned stock exchange Borse Dubai struck a complicated deal last month in which Dubai would get Nasdaq's stake in London Stock Exchange Group Plc and buy 20 percent of Nasdaq.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has led national polls for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the November 2008 election, said the Nasdaq deal was done so quickly so it was hard to determine whether it would harm U.S. national security, but that it could likely pass muster.

"You just can't rule out foreign companies, there's a whole procedure you go through as to whether they are safe, are they secure," Giuliani said. "We cannot stop doing business with the rest of the world."

Former Sen. Fred Thompson, during a CNBC debate on economic issues, did not oppose the deal.

"It all depends on national security issues, it doesn't seem to be one there but we should look at all these deals carefully," he said.

Democrats in Congress demanded close scrutiny of the deal and U.S. President George W. Bush said after the deal was unveiled that it would be examined under a newly strengthened law that reviews foreign investments in U.S. companies.

Not all candidates supported the deal. Longshot hopeful California Rep. Duncan Hunter said he would oppose the deal "because I don't trust them."

Foreign acquisitions of U.S. assets have come under more intense review after American officials last year approved the acquisition of some 22 key U.S. port facilities by the state-owned Dubai Ports World.

After security concerns were raised by Congress, DP World sold off the ports to put an end to the public furor.

However, the incident has sparked tougher scrutiny and fears among some foreign companies about whether they would be allowed to invest in certain U.S. assets.

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)