"The deal is still on track. We are still working with Global Crossing to receive all necessary approval from the regulatory authorities in the US," an ST Telemedia spokeswoman told AFP.

"These reviews are already well underway and we are hopeful that the reviews and approvals will be completed soon."

ST Telemedia, a subsidiary of state-owned Singapore TechnologiesGroup, wants to pay 250 million US dollars for a 61.5 percent stake in the troubled US telecoms company.

A Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said a senior Pentagon official was recommending the US government block the Singapore technology company's takeover bid.

The report said a top aide to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had wrote a memo opposing the deal based on national security concerns.

It said the official had expressed the view as part of a broad multi-agency approval process used when foreign companies express interest in domestic technology and telecoms companies.

Officials from STT and Global Crossing had said they expected the merger to attract extra scrutiny because of the sensitive nature of a deal putting a major US telecommunications company under foreign control, the newspaper report said.

The Singapore company was initially bidding jointly with Hutchison Telecommunications for the US company until the Hong Kong outfit pulled out of the venture earlier this year.

SPACE.WIRE