Foreign polls prefer Kerry

Rediff: "The survey by 10 leading international newspapers was initiated and coordinated by Montreal's La Presse, Canada's leading French-language national newspaper. Other participating newspapers include: Le Monde (France); The Guardian (Great Britain); Asahi Shimbun (Japan); Joong-Ang Daily News (South Korea); Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); El Pais (Spain); Haaretz (Israel); Reforma (Mexico); and Moscow News (Russia).

Highlights of the poll, as released by La Presse, include:

Opposition to the re-election of President George W. Bush is unequivocal in eight of ten countries, with only Russia (52%) and Israel (50%) supporting the American leader.

Opposition is most pronounced in Spain, where only 13% of respondents hope he will be re-elected and only 13% hold a favourable opinion of Mr. Bush;

Respondents in Canada (51%) and Great Britain (51%) say the war in Iraq is making a contribution to the war on terrorism; however, in France (80%), Mexico (74%), Spain (73%) and Japan (54%), people responded negatively;

Eighty per cent or more of respondents in South Korea, Mexico and Spain said the U.S. had no justification for invading Iraq;

In every country except Israel, a majority of respondents said that their opinion of the United States had deteriorated during the past three years.

Opinions are heavily divided on whether United States democracy remains a model to follow. In the "yes" camp are Israelis (71%), Russians (62%), Japanese (56%) and Canadian (55%). Disagreeing are South Koreans (56%), the British (53%) and Mexicans (48%); -

In every country, however, a majority of respondents hold favourable opinions toward Americans. Russians (86%) hold the most favourable opinion, followed by Israelis (81%), Japanese (74%), Canadians (73%), French (72%), Australians (72%) and the British (62%).

Even in Mexico, where opinions were more divided, a majority (51%) hold a favourable opinion toward their American neighbours;

In each country where the question was asked, a strong majority of respondents fear that new terrorist attacks will take place in the United States, with Canadians (75%) being the most concerned.

However, that fear is not translated into a fear of travelling to the United States. Russians (91%), Israelis (88%), Canadians (82%) and Mexicans (60%) all said they are not afraid of travelling to the United States at this time. "