WASHINGTON, Oct 20: More than one-third of American Muslims believe that the US war on terrorism is really a war on Islam, according to a survey report released this week by researchers at Georgetown University.

Thirty-eight per cent of American Muslims polled said they believed the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the tensions with Iran and Syria; reflected a foreign policy that was targeting Islamic countries and Muslims.

An additional 33 per cent of Muslims interviewed said they believed the United States was fighting a war on terrorism, and 29 per cent said they were not sure.

The telephone survey of 1,846 randomly chosen Muslims was conducted in August and September by Zogby International for the Project on Muslims in the American Public Square, a project of Georgetown's Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

The poll follows up a study conducted two months after the September 11 attacks, which found that 67 per cent of American Muslims believed that the United States was fighting a war on terror.

An additional 18 per cent of Muslims said the US war was against Islam, and 16 per cent said they were not sure.

The survey also shows a massive shift in the political outlook of the American Muslims since the last presidential election. In 2000 a plurality supported President George W. Bush over Vice President Al Gore, but now 76 per cent said they supported Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and just 7 per cent support Mr Bush.

"The results of this survey are truly astonishing for American Muslims. There has been a sea-change in political alignment and outlook since 9/11," said Dr Zahid Bukhari, director of the project. "The political realignment in the Muslim community is unprecedented in all of American history."

The political realignment in the American Muslim community seems to come from several factors, including a higher emphasis on domestic policy and high opposition to both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. A higher percentage of Muslims than other subgroups believe that America is not moving in the right direction.