In Pakistan Laden outset Musharraf in popularity

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is more popular in Pakistan than President Pervez Musharraf, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

Nearly three-quarters of Pakistanis also oppose unilateral US military action against Islamic insurgents in Pakistan’s tribal areas, said the poll for Terror Free Tomorrow, a US-based organization.

It said his approval rating was 38% behind 46% for bin Laden, the architect of the 9/11 attacks who is believed to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Bin Laden’s ratings jumped to 70% in the Islamist-ruled North West Frontier Province.

The survey may help explain why Osama bin Laden remains at large in Pakistan and why both Al-Qaida 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.

Military ruler Musharraf, facing the biggest political crisis of his eight years in power and increasing pressure from Washington to tackle extremism, is the biggest in from the poll.

Musharraf’s main rivals, the former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, enjoy favorable opinions of 63% and 57% respectively.

Agency