The capture of Saddam Hussein has given US President George W.Bush his highest job-approval rating in six months,a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll published on Thursday sowed.

The poll,conducted on Monday and Tuesday,found that 63percent of Americans approve of the overall job the president is doing,up from 54percent just before Saddam's arrest on Saturday.

The survey also found a double-digit increase in approval of the way postwar Iraq has been handled,from 46percent two weeks ago to 65percent.

The number of people who thought the situation in Iraq was worth going to war remained steady.That number had been rising since September,when Bush began defending the war as essential to stopping terrorism and stabilizing the Middle East.

Findings of the poll showed that Saddam's arrest was followed by diminished Democratic support for Howard Dean,the front-runner among the nine Democratic contenders and a consistent critic of the war.

If the presidential elections were held today,the poll showed,Bush would beat Dean by 59percent-37percent,compared to 53percent-43percent in November.

Wesley Clark,a retired general,and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman,two other Democratic candidates,also lost ground.

War worries are driven by casualties and the high cost,not Saddam,USA Today quoted Geoffrey Garin,a Clark pollster,as saying."Over the longer term,the question is whether people feelwe are starting to extricate ourselves from ...a very messy and costly situation,"he said.

Polls conducted by The New York Times/CBS News during the days before and after the capture last Saturday also showed an increasein Bush's approval rating,from 52percent before Saddam was captured to 58percent after the capture.