By Stephen Kaufman - President Bush congratulated Yemen�s President Ali Abdullah Saleh on his election victory, and said the vote, which international observers described as free and fair, was also a victory for his country and would �set an example� for the Middle East region.

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said September 26 that Bush also telephoned President Saleh earlier in the day to congratulate him on Yemen�s national day and to extend greetings for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Perino said Bush told Saleh that the September 23 result, which gave the Yemeni leader more than 77 percent of the vote, was �a victory for him personally,� and �also for Yemen because it was an election that international observers called free and fair and will set an example for the region.�

According to the European Union Election Observation Mission�s preliminary report, released September 21, the vote was �an open and genuine contest � and [a] positive development in Yemen�s democratization process.�

International media reports described the election as the first instance in the 28 years President Saleh has been in power when he faced a serious challenger.

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said September 26 that all indications were that �the elections in Yemen did meet a certain international standard for freeness and fairness.

�Yemen and President Saleh, who did win re-election in those elections, should be congratulated on the fact that they ran some good elections that met international criteria for free and fair elections,� McCormack said.

During their telephone conversation, Bush also thanked Saleh for Yemen�s efforts to combat terrorism. According to Perino, Saleh �assured him Yemen�s fight against terrorism would continue.�

The Yemeni leader also told Bush that he hoped the election in his country �would serve as an example for other countries in the region.�