US:Popular support for suicide bombings has dropped sharply across the Muslim world in what could suggest a rejection of Islamist militant tactics among Muslims, a global survey released yesterday said.
The 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey, based on polling data from 47 countries, also showed waning confidence in al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden among Muslims but said the United States is viewed as the biggest threat by a majority of people in Muslim countries.
"The marked decline in the acceptance of suicide bombing is one of several findings that suggest a possible broader rejection of extremist tactics among many in the Muslim world," the Washington-based Pew Research Center said in a report that accompanied the data.
Pew found dwindling support for suicide bombings in seven of eight Muslim countries since 2002. In Lebanon, which is experiencing its worst violence since the 1975-90 civil war, the number of Muslims who say suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified fell from 74 percent to 34 per cent.