Australian leaders congratulate Bush on his re-election

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Mark Latham on Thursday congratulated George W. Bush on his re-election as US president.

Howard phoned Bush on Thursday morning and they talked for 10 minutes.

"I congratulated him on such a remarkable victory," Howard told reporters in Sydney, Australia's largest city.

"This is a strong reaffirmation of his (Bush's) leadership of the United States in its fight against world terrorism, it's a victory for the anti-terrorism cause," Howard said.

After Howard won his fourth term as prime minister in Australia's federal election last month, Bush was among the first to congratulate Howard on his re-election.

Australia, a staunch ally of the United States in the Iraq war, sent 2,000 troops to join the US-led coalition forces in the war last year and still maintains about 900 military personnel in and around the Middle-East country.

Howard has insisted that the Australian troops will only withdraw until "the job is done."

Also on Thursday morning, Latham congratulated Bush on his re-election.

"The Australian Labor Party congratulates George W. Bush on his re-election as president of the United States of America," Latham said in a statement.

Latham said his Labor party looks forward to working with the Bush administration on the joint challenges they face.

"Labor is strongly committed to the US-Australia alliance as a fundamental pillar of our foreign and international security policy," he said.

Australian Acting Prime Minister John Anderson also congratulated Bush on his election win.