WASHINGTON, Sept 3: In his acceptance speech for a second term in the White House, President George W. Bush referred to his administration's ties to Pakistan to demonstrate his policies against terrorism were succeeding.

"Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups. Today Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders," said Mr Bush to a roaring applause from thousands of supporters attending the Republican National Convention at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Mr Bush has made the war on terror the main plank of his re-election strategy, urging Americans to vote for him to make "America and the world safer." He named three countries where he said the American strategy was succeeding, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. Libya also was mentioned as a nation that abandoned its nuclear weapons on America's persuasion.

Mr Bush ignored the troubles his troops were facing in restoring peace to Iraq and instead repeated his stance that America had freed Iraq from a tyrannical regime.

"Four years ago, Afghanistan was the home base of Al Qaeda, Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups, Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fund-raising," said the US president while talking about the problems he had inherited from his Democratic predecessor, Bill Clinton.

"Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, Iraq was a gathering threat," he added. His administration, said the US president, accepted the challenges, particularly those posed by the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Today, the government of a free Afghanistan is fighting terror, Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders, Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests. "Libya is dismantling its weapons programs and the army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom," said Mr Bush while counting the successes of his administration.

As expected, Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network figured prominently in Mr Bush's speech, showing that even three years after the 9/11 attacks, it continues to occupy the minds of many Americans, and is a major issue in the 2004 presidential election as well.

"(In the previous administration) Al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks, (and) today more than three-quarters of Al Qaeda's key members and associates have been detained or killed," declared the US president earning a thunderous applause from his supporters.

"I am honored by your support, and I accept your nomination for President of the United States," said Mr Bush as balloons and confetti fell around him. While Mr Bush believes the war on terrorism can win him a second term, terrorism also seems to have become his greatest challenge.

Less than an hour after Mr Bush's address, Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry told an election rally in Springfield, Ohio, that the Bush administration led the nation into war with Iraq rather than pursuing Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan.

He said Mr Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had told the Americans that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Qaeda but their claims were later proven wrong.

"Misleading our nation into war makes you unfit to lead this nation," said Mr Kerry in an unprecedented, post-midnight speech. The US media noted on Friday that Mr Bush has kept his election campaign tied to the war on terror because Mr Kerry has an advantage over him on issues such as economy, health care and education.

On Friday, the US Labor Department reported that 1.65 million private sector jobs have been lost since Mr Bush took office in January 2001, confirming Mr Kerry's claim in his late night address that the loss of more than 1 million jobs was another reason the president was "unfit to lead this nation."