WASHINGTON, Jan 24: US President George W. Bush’s public approval rating has dropped to its lowest point since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, according to a poll published Friday.

Bush’s approval rating still remains high at 59 percent, but that figure is 30 percentage points lower than its highest point, when Americans rallied around the president in the aftermath of the attacks, according to the survey conducted by The New York Times and the CBS television network.

Some 49 percent of the people surveyed disapproved of Bush’s handling of the sluggish economy, while 41 percent disapproved of his foreign policy — an area that had fuelled his spectacularly high ratings after the attacks.

More Americans now disapprove of Bush’s job performance than at any other time in his presidency, the poll found.

Some 63 percent of those polled said the United States should try to find a diplomatic solution in Iraq.

But at the same time, 64 percent said they approved of the US taking military action to try to remove President Saddam from power.—AFP