Survey: Most Muslims oppose terror

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A survey performed in predominantly Muslim countries indicates large majorities oppose terrorism but also support al-Qaida's goal of driving out U.S. forces.

In a project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, public opinion surveys were conducted in Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia, with additional polling in Turkey, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Azerbaijan and Nigeria, program officials said.

While big majorities in those countries continue to renounce the use of attacks on civilians as a means of pursuing political goals, similar numbers agreed with al-Qaida's goal of pushing the United States to remove its military forces from all Muslim countries.

Substantial numbers -- in some cases majorities -- approved of attacks on U.S. troops in Muslim countries, the survey's author, WorldPublicOpinion.org, said.

"The U.S. faces a conundrum," said WorldPublicOpinion.org Director Steven Kull. "U.S. efforts to fight terrorism with an expanded military presence in Muslim countries appear to have elicited a backlash and to have bred some sympathy for al-Qaida, even as most reject its terrorist methods."

The interviews were conducted July-September 2008 with 3,421 participants in Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan and more in other nations. An error margin of 3 to 4 percentage points was reported.