January 22, 2002	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 7, 1422

HONG KONG, Jan 21: Most Asians disagree with the US war on Afghanistan and do not want their own countries to get involved in the military action, a survey published on Monday said.

The poll of six countries and territories by the research company Gallup found that in most places, a higher percentage disagreed than agreed with the US military action and many feared the campaign would develop into a broader war against Islam.

Pakistanis and Malaysians were more concerned about the effect of US bombing on Afghan citizens with 56 per cent and 51 per cent respectively citing it as their primary concern about the war.

Four out of six of the countries and territories said they were more worried than not that the war would develop into a broader war against Islam with 58 per cent of Malaysians and 61 per cent of Pakistanis expressing the fear.

Taylor Nelson Sofres Hong Kong, one of the world’s leading marketing groups, made the results of the survey available to the public.

India and Japan were the only countries in which more people agreed with the US military action than disagreed with it. In India 70 per cent supported the action and 27 opposed it while in Japan 33 per cent supported it and 26 per cent opposed it.

Elsewhere, opponents outnumbered supporters by 46 per cent to 45 per cent in Hong Kong, 44 per cent to 43 per cent in South Korea, 67 per cent to 13 per cent in Malaysia and 82 per cent to eight per cent in Pakistan.

Only in India did a majority of people agree their country should join in the action, with 85 per cent to 12 per cent in favour of it. Strongest opposition to taking part came in Pakistan and Malaysia where 71 per cent and 77 per cent respectively opposed involvement.

Every one of the countries and territories surveyed believed US foreign policy had a more negative than positive effect on their countries, with the sentiment expressed most strongly in India (65 per cent) and South Korea (55 per cent).—dpa