CJ most favourite
Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON - A recent poll done in Pakistan for a US anti-terrorism group showed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is more popular there than President Pervez Musharraf, according to CNN.
The results show 46 per cent approving Osama bin Laden, compared to 38 per cent for Gen Musharraf and nine per cent for US President George Bush.
But Musharraf's main rival, the former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, enjoy favourable opinions of 63 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.
The poll done last month for Terror Free Tomorrow of Washington involved interviews with over 1,000 Pakistanis in all the four provinces of the country, it said.
The survey also shows 74 per cent of those interviewed were against US military action against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban inside their country.
"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world, and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," Ken Ballen, head of the group, was quoted as saying.
"Pakistan is the one Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, and the people who want to use them against us — like the Taliban and Al-Qaea — are more popular there than our allies like Musharraf."
AFP adds: The survey "may help explain why Osama bin Laden remains at large in Pakistan and why both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have regrouped there," the group said in a statement. It said it polled 1,044 people across Pakistan between August 18 and August 29.
The poll said Musharraf's approval rating was 38 per cent behind 46 per cent for Osama, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks who is believed to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Osama's ratings jumped to 70 per cent in NWFP.
The survey was carried out several days before Musharraf deported Sharif, the man he ousted in a bloodless coup in 1999, within hours of his return from exile on Monday.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whom Musharraf tried to sack earlier this year, had a 69 per cent favourable rating, the survey said.
Meanwhile only 13 per cent of people here said they would support US military strikes without Islamabad's cooperation - a threat issued by several US officials in recent months.
But a majority back the Pakistani military, without US support, pursuing Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters inside Pakistan, the poll showed.
Terror Free Tomorrow is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose advisory board includes Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain, according to the group's website.
Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON - A recent poll done in Pakistan for a US anti-terrorism group showed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is more popular there than President Pervez Musharraf, according to CNN.
The results show 46 per cent approving Osama bin Laden, compared to 38 per cent for Gen Musharraf and nine per cent for US President George Bush.
But Musharraf's main rival, the former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, enjoy favourable opinions of 63 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.
The poll done last month for Terror Free Tomorrow of Washington involved interviews with over 1,000 Pakistanis in all the four provinces of the country, it said.
The survey also shows 74 per cent of those interviewed were against US military action against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban inside their country.
"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world, and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," Ken Ballen, head of the group, was quoted as saying.
"Pakistan is the one Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, and the people who want to use them against us — like the Taliban and Al-Qaea — are more popular there than our allies like Musharraf."
AFP adds: The survey "may help explain why Osama bin Laden remains at large in Pakistan and why both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have regrouped there," the group said in a statement. It said it polled 1,044 people across Pakistan between August 18 and August 29.
The poll said Musharraf's approval rating was 38 per cent behind 46 per cent for Osama, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks who is believed to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Osama's ratings jumped to 70 per cent in NWFP.
The survey was carried out several days before Musharraf deported Sharif, the man he ousted in a bloodless coup in 1999, within hours of his return from exile on Monday.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whom Musharraf tried to sack earlier this year, had a 69 per cent favourable rating, the survey said.
Meanwhile only 13 per cent of people here said they would support US military strikes without Islamabad's cooperation - a threat issued by several US officials in recent months.
But a majority back the Pakistani military, without US support, pursuing Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters inside Pakistan, the poll showed.
Terror Free Tomorrow is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose advisory board includes Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain, according to the group's website.
-----------------------------------------------------------
N A D E E M M A L I K
CNBC PAKISTAN
BUREAU CHIEF
ISLAMABAD
0321-5117511
16th Floor,
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! MSN Messenger Download today it's FREE!
