In a disillusioned Middle East where calls for a change - any change - in the US leadership resonated throughout the run-up to the election, Kuwait is clearly Bush country.

Arab media reacted cautiously to the beheading of an American civilian on a video issued by an associate of Osama bin Laden, with some newspapers conspicuously playing it down or even ignoring it.

Iraqis were unimpressed by George Bush’s speech, saying it only showed the US President’s determination to go to war.