The US Senate judiciary committee yesterday voted along party lines to approve the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court, setting the stage for a final vote of the full Senate within days.

Republicans defended the qualifications of George W. Bush's nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who often cast the deciding Supreme Court vote on social issues like abortion. Democrats criticised his views on civil rights and abortion and said they feared he would give the Bush administration too much latitude to exercise the powers of the presidency in the war on terror, at the expense of American civil liberties.