Opposition to al Qaeda grows in Saudi Arabia

CNN:

Most Saudi Arabia citizens interviewed in a poll oppose terrorism and want closer ties with the United States. But many Saudis remain opposed to making peace with Israel, according to what researchers call an unprecedented survey of the kingdom.

Ten percent of Saudis have a favorable view of the al Qaeda terrorist network, according to a survey by Terror Free Tomorrow, an international public opinion research group based in Washington.

Fifteen percent said they have a favorable view of al Qaeda's leader, Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, the poll found.

"I think that the people of Saudi Arabia have so overwhelmingly turned against bin Laden, al Qaeda and terrorism in general that nine out of 10 of them look at all three unfavorably," the group's president, Ken Ballen, said Monday.

Though the desert monarchy's ruling family has close ties to the United States, it was also the home of 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers behind al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

The kingdom also has been the target of a spate of al Qaeda attacks since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the origin of a large share of the Islamic militants implicated in suicide bombings in Iraq.

Pollsters questioned 1,004 Saudi adults in Arabic between November 30 and December 5, according to the group. The survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Saudis also have a better opinion of the United States than in other countries in the Muslim world, with 40 percent saying they view the U.S. favorably. That compares to 19 percent in Pakistan, according to a poll taken by the same group in August, and 21 percent of Egyptians, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center.

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Most Saudis oppose al Qaeda, the survey suggests, and it also found limited support for two other groups the United States has branded terrorist organizations -- Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic movement that rules Gaza, and Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militia that fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006.

"Finally, some good news," Ballen said.

Thirty-three percent of Saudis viewed Hezbollah favorably, compared to 42 percent unfavorably. When asked about Hamas, 37 percent had a positive response, while 38 percent viewed the group unfavorably.

But Ballen said the survey shows the Saudi population is now one of the most pro-American in the Muslim world, with 69 percent of those surveyed supporting close ties between Riyadh and Washington.

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A similar survey in Iraq would probably be even more favorable toward the US and more anti al Qaeda. While liberals are still stuck in the mode of criticizing the Bush administration claiming the liberation of Iraq radicalized Arabs, this survey and the events on the ground in Iraq prove the opposite is the case. Al Qaeda has alienated its natural constituency in the Sunni Muslim world with its attacks on non combatants in Iraq. Liberals need to admit they were wrong about the consequences of fighting al Qaeda in Iraq and quit denying that they were there to begin with.