Poll: Pakistanis turn against militants, but view US unfavourably

Jul 1, 2009, 14:51 GMT

Islamabad - Most of Pakistanis consider Taliban and al Qaeda related militants as a threat to the country, but still do not take United States and President Barack Obama as friends, a poll showed on Wednesday.

The poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland last month found that those considering actions of militants as dangerous for Pakistan rose from 34 percent to 81 percent since late 2007.

Nearly 75 per cent say that Pakistani Taliban's gaining control of the country will be bad and 67 per cent say it will be 'very bad.' Only 33 percent think that Taliban had the potential to gain the control of the country.

The poll is based on random interviews of 1,000 adults across Pakistan during May 17-28. The findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

A large majority of the Pakistanis also think that Taliban groups trying to overrun the Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai should not be allowed to enjoy safe areas on Pakistani territory.

However, the predominantly anti-American attitude of the Pakistani public has not changed, showed the findings.

The public had swung due to recent fighting in Swat and three neighboring districts after the local militants failed to observe the peace deal. So far 1600 militants have been killed in the fighting that also displaced over 2.5 million people.

Locals in certain districts raised private armies called as 'lashkars' to fight the Taliban. They have been supporting army identifying hideouts of the militants, and coming up with information to help army carry out precise attacks.

'A sea change has occurred in Pakistani public opinion. The tactics and undemocratic bent of militant groups--in tribal areas as well as Swat - have brought widespread revulsion and turned Pakistanis against them,' said Clay Ramsay, research director.

But it is 'crucial to understand that the US is resented just as much as before, despite the US having a new president,' he added.

Around 62 per cent those questioned said they did not have confidence in Obama. Only 32 per cent said they believe his policies would be better than those of his predecessor George W Bush. An overwhelming majority opposed US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal region.