Alright… so in the spirit of my interrupted Election night coverage, I will continue with Post-Election reaction from the same sources around the world.
Now that Kerry has Conceded, the reaction is starting to flow… Stay tuned to this thread for updates on the reaction from media outlets around the world:
As US President George Bush headed for a second term in office, the American election produced mixed reactions in the Middle East.
In a region rife with anti-US sentiment, Kerry was seen by many Arabs as the candidate with less aggressive policies, or at least as the sole alternative to a man whose unpopularity is matched only by Israeli premier Ariel Sharon.
However, polls revealed some Arabs wanted Bush to win a second term in the hope that the Republican’s Middle East policies would backfire on the United States.
In Iran, where hatred of the “Great Satan” is deeply entrenched, thousands of demonstrators chanting “Death to America” marked the 25th anniversary of the US hostage crisis at the former American embassy in Tehran.
From Israels Hareetz
.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said Wednesday that pressure on Israel would not be part of the “next president’s vocabulary,” but that “unfinished business” remained on the agenda between the two allies and that “certainly, a lot of work remains to be done” on commitments made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The Bush administration, while publicly showing strong support for Sharon’s policies, is seen as being troubled by the pace of Israeli action on such issues as dismantling illegal outposts and lifting military restrictions on the daily lives of Palestinian civilians.
The unexpected question that quickly bubbles to the surface when the cognoscenti ponder a second Bush administration is whether, when, how swiftly and how firmly he will engage with Israel-Palestine dispute.
That, for the British political classes, as for most Europeans, is the litmus test for judging whether a second-term Bush, released from the bonds of ever again having to face re-election, will be more moderate and less unilateral, more consensual and less confrontational with America’s traditional allies in Europe.
Mixed world reaction to expected Bush win
World leaders sought to adapt to the idea of four more years of US President George W Bush, with friends hailing his expected re-election and critics vowing to make the best of it, especially in Iraq.
It was an election watched intently around the world with issues of deep international interest, including the US involvement in Iraq and the state of the US economy, dominating the closely fought race.
..
” Leaders who supported the Iraq war and sent troops there such as Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi had wanted to see Bush re-elected.Opponents of the war privately made clear they preferred Kerry.”
“.. Germany also opposed the Iraq war.
There, Interior Minister Otto Schily said: “Despite the issue of our differing positions in the past, we all have to contribute to ensuring that the situation in Iraq stabilises.”