Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday extended his congratulations to George W. Bush on his election to a second term as president of the United States.

Abdullah said relations between Malaysia and the United States were always good no matter who the president was in the United States.

The cordial relations were also prevalent in the economic and investment fields, he said at a news conference after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on the Integrity of Government Management in Putrajaya, the Federal Administrative Center.

Abdullah hoped that Bush's approach to the Iraqi and Palestine issues would take into account the views of other world leaders and organizations, including the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The prime minister also hoped that the US president would be committed toward resolving the Palestine conflict quickly, guided by the road map toward creating an independent and sovereign Palestine nation next year.