Poll reveals positive views of al-Qaeda in Egypt, Pakistan

Sep 26, 2008, 20:49 GMT

Cairo - Egypt and Pakistan were the only nations in a poll of 23 nations released Friday in which the majority of people did not have a negative view of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Around 60 per cent of Egyptians had 'positive or mixed' view towards al-Qaeda, the opinion poll carried out for the BBC World Service said.

In Pakistan, where much of the battle against al-Qaeda is being fought, just 19 per cent said they had a negative view of Osama bin Laden's organisation.

Doug Miller, from polling agency Globescan, was quoted by the BBC as saying the findings from Egypt and Pakistan were 'yet another indicator that the US 'war on terror' is not winning hearts and minds.'

US-led efforts to tackle al-Qaeda have not been regarded as successful, the poll showed. Asked who is winning 'the conflict between al-Qaeda and the US', 49 per cent said neither side while 22 per cent believed the US had gained the upper hand. Just 10 per cent said al-Qaeda was winning.

Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, is an Egyptian who last Friday released a six-minute audio statement offering his condolences to the victims of a fatal rockslide in Cairo that killed at least 103 people on September 6.

Al-Zawahri is believed to be somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

In 2005, al-Qaeda was blamed for a series of bomb attacks which shook the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh killing around 100 people - Egyptians and foreigners.

Some 23,937 adults across 23 countries were polled for the BBC World Service between July 8 and September 12.