29 January 2004	Thursday	06 Zilhaj 1424

MANCHESTER, Jan 28: John Kerry of Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and four-term US senator, celebrated his second electoral victory in eight days on Tuesday and vowed to take his fight against President George Bush across the country.

With a win in the New Hampshire primary over former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the longtime front-runner, Kerry was catapulted into the lead in the race for the Democratic nomination to take on Bush in November.

"Well, I love New Hampshire. And I love Iowa too. And I hope with your help to have the blessings and the opportunity to love a lot of other states in the days to come," Kerry, who won the Iowa caucuses last week, said in his victory speech.

"I have spent my whole life fighting for what I think is right and against powerful special interests and I have only just begun the fight," Kerry told an ecstatic crowd packed into a ballroom of a downtown Manchester hotel.

Cheering erupted as the returns came in and US networks projected Kerry the winner with about 39 percent of the vote. Kerry, who admitted his campaign had been on the "endangered species list" before a late surge put him over the top in Iowa, is hoping New Hampshire will give him the momentum to carry his core message of economic fairness and mending fences with the international community.-Reuters