Poll shows French staunchly behind Kerry 29/10/2004 00:00

PARIS, 28 oct (AFP) - More than two out of three French would vote for John Kerry and only one in 10 for George W Bush in the US presidential election if they had the chance, according to an opinion poll published Thursday.

A Louis Harris poll result published in the newspaper Le Figaro said 71 percent were pro-Kerry and 11 percent pro-Bush. Eighteen percent were uncommitted.

Eighty-two percent of those asked said they believed President Bush had made the world a more dangerous place, while 66 percent said he had made America a more dangerous place.

Both conservative and left-of-centre French voters favoured Kerry - 65 percent on the right and 79 percent on the left.

Fifty percent of those asked said they believed Kerry would have "fairly different" policies from Bush if elected.

Sixteen percent believed his policies would be "very different," while 23 percent believed they would be "not really different." Six percent said they thought they would be the same as those of Bush, and five percent were don't know.

Seventy-seven percent of those asked said they thought France would benefit from the election of the Democrat candidate, 76 percent believed the Iraqis would likewise benefit, and 75 percent said Europe would benefit.

A narrow majority of 51 percent said they were concerned about French-US relations, which cooled considerably over the war in Iraq.

Eight percent said they were very concerned, while 43 percent were "fairly" concerned. But 48 percent said they were not concerned about the way US-French relations were going, 20 percent said they were reasonably at ease with relations, and 20 percent were not all concerned.

The poll was conducted on Monday among 1,002 French adults over age 18.