US 'bigger threat' than Iran

WASHINGTON - The world increasingly fears Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear bomb but believes the United States military in Iraq remains a greater danger to Middle East stability.

As Washington campaigns to highlight the threat it sees from Tehran, the good news for the US in a Pew Research Centre poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries is that publics, particularly in the West, are worrying more about Iran.

The bad news is people worldwide think the US presence in Iraq is an even bigger threat and support in most countries for President George W. Bush's so called "war on terror" is either flat or falling.

And after some signs anti-Americanism had been abating, in part because of goodwill generated by US aid for victims of the late-2004 tsunami in Asia, favourable opinions of the US have since fallen back in most countries.

Widespread concern over US detainee treatment in Iraq and places such as Guantanamo, is a key drag on America's overall image.

Bush himself received the lowest marks for international leadership compared with his counterparts in Britain, Germany, France and Russia, and confidence in him has slipped in most countries - to as low as 3 per cent in Turkey.

The survey of global attitudes by the respected research group was conducted from March 31 to May 14 in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Nigeria, Japan, India, China and the US.

With a margin of error ranging from 2 per cent to 6 per cent depending on the country, the poll made comparisons to similar surveys it had conducted in the past few years.

Among Washington's traditional allies, Germany is the only country where more people say Iran is a bigger danger than the US in Iraq.

Otherwise, the survey made grim comparisons for the Bush Administration, including that 56 per cent of Spaniards, 45 per cent of Russians and 31 per cent of Indonesians believe the US in Iraq is the greater threat.

The poll was published after the US shifted tactics on Iran, offering to join negotiations over curbing its nuclear programmes, which Iran says are for peaceful power generation.

With people worldwide overwhelmingly believing Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb, fears over the Islamic republic have tripled in some Western countries. The Muslim world is less fearful of Iran but its concerns have also risen, representing, for example, a great danger to 19 per cent of Jordanians.

- REUTERS