Washington - The US Senate on Thursday approved a funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but set up a potential showdown with President George W Bush by added billions in unrelated spending.

The Senate approved the 165.4-billion-dollar measure to continue funding for the conflicts, but added billions of dollars more to pay for the education of Iraq and Afghan veterans and unemployment benefits.

Bush has threatened to veto any bill containing when he views as unnecessary domestic spending. The House of Representatives has yet to take up a similar bill. (dpa)