Political party leaders had mixed reactions to U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election Thursday that ranged from relief to demands for Washington to review its policy on Iraq.

Leaders of the ruling coalition breathed a sigh of relief with Bush's re-election, which they reckoned signaled continuity in diplomatic and economic policy.

"It is very delightful and (we) would like to congratulate" him on his re-election, Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters. We "expect our countries to work in closer cooperation from the perspective that the Japanese-U.S. alliance serves the whole world."