Washington - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday endorsed President George W Bush's 700-billion-dollar plan designed to rescue the US financial sector and stave off further turmoil in global markets.

"Britain supports the financial plan. And whatever the details of it, it's the right thing to do to take us through these difficult circumstances," Brown said at a hastily scheduled meeting with Bush at the White House.

Bush sought to assure Brown that the bailout plan to use taxpayer dollars to buy up risky mortgage securities, which have threaten to dry up credit markets, was large enough to address the problem.

"What the prime minister wants to know is, is the plan we've devised big enough to make a difference, and is it going to be passed. And I told him the plan is big enough to make a difference, and I believe it is going to be passed," Bush said.

Bush has encountered strong opposition in Congress from conservatives in his own Republican Party who believe the proposal violates free-market principles, while Democrats argue it does not do enough to protect homeowners with failing mortgages.

Congressional staffers were expected to meet through the weekend to negotiate emergency legislation that the White House wants to prevent a broader economic collapse.

The financial crisis in the United States has sent shockwaves through global markets and sparked steep declines on stock exchanges. The topic was a major focus of the UN General Assembly this week in New York, amid fears that the crisis could cause the world economy to suffer a major downturn.

"I was also able to tell President Bush that other countries whom I've talked to during the course of the last week in New York, every continent - all - believe that America deserves the support of the rest of the world in the action it's taking to secure stability and to deal with the turbulence in the financial markets," Brown said.

Bush and Brown also discussed the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the diplomatic standoff with Russia over Moscow's recent conflict with Georgia. dpa