Bush administration loses key ally as Australia elects anti-Iraq war leader

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd took advice yesterday on how to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions and fielded phone calls from world leaders - starting in on work the day after a sweeping election victory.

The emphatic triumph of Rudd's Labor Party swings Australia toward the political left after almost 12 years of conservative rule.

The voted puts Australia at odds with Washington on two crucial policy issues: Iraq and global warming. The defeat of Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday deprives President Bush of one of his most steadfast allies.

During recent years, Howard was unabashedly in the American corner at times when other world leaders were keeping their studied distance, and his loss is likely to be particularly acute for Bush, who puts great stock in personal relations in the conduct of foreign relations.

Rudd said yesterday, in his first news conference since the election, that he had received a congratulatory call from Bush, and that he would be visiting the United States early in the new year.

Under Rudd, the most notable foreign policy changes will be on the environment, nuclear issues and Iraq, said a veteran Australian diplomat, who requested anonymity.

Rudd stated unequivocally in his victory speech Saturday evening that Australia would ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. That will further isolate the United States, leaving it as the only industrialized country not to have done so.

Rudd has said that his Labor Party would withdraw Australia's 550 combat troops from Iraq. That would still leave more than 300 Australian support troops in Iraq.

For the Bush administration, symbolism and gestures count in a war without much international support, and the biggest difference on Iraq may come over the new government's public posture.

In the face of the largest anti-war demonstrations since Vietnam, Howard sent Australian troops into Iraq. In fact, Australia's tough and highly trained special forces were secretly operating in western Iraq in advance of the American invasion. Howard at times sounded more hawkish than Bush on the need to stay the course when the war was going badly.

As Rudd basked in his victory, Howard's party fell into turmoil when his nominated successor, outgoing Treasurer Peter Costello, announced he would not accept the post of opposition leader, opening the possibility of a bruising fight for the leadership.

Howard took his customary early-morning walk along the Sydney Harbor yesterday, but did not comment on the election. *