BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqis were almost as sharply divided as the American electorate over the results of the U.S. presidential election: The majority of Shiites and Kurds appeared pleased that President Bush will serve another four-year term, while many Arab Sunnis expressed anger and regret.

Iraqis closely followed the U.S. vote, watching the coverage on Arab satellite channels and on Internet sites and chatting with friends over morning tea yesterday as the returns shifted steadily toward Bush. The competing views reflected the changes in political fortunes in this country that occurred as a result of the U.S.-led invasion last year.

Shiites and Kurds had been oppressed by President Saddam Hussein, who was ousted in the war. Sunnis, who enjoyed power under Saddam and are now believed to be in the forefront of the insurgency, have felt betrayed by their diminished role.

The repeated bombing of Sunni areas by the U.S. military, which says it is targeting foreign fighters and insurgents, has compounded Sunni distrust of the Bush administration

"Our society has a sort of enmity toward Bush," said Khalid Abdul-Rahman, 40, a Baghdad shopkeeper in the Sunni Amiriya neighborhood. "We preferred [Sen. John F.] Kerry because during his campaign at least he promised to withdraw his troops from our land.

At almost the opposite end of the spectrum are the Kurds, who are deeply grateful to Bush for forcing out Saddam, who was responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of their kinsmen in such incidents as the gassing of the northern Kurdish town of Halapja. The overwhelmingly secular Kurds are also sympathetic to Bush's vocal opposition to religious Islamic militants.

"Right now, we're witnessing a battle between international terrorism and democracy," said a Kurdish Democratic Party official.