Poll: Fewer Muslims back suicide blasts

Muslims in most locations increasingly reject suicide bombings against civilians, according to a Pew Research Center poll.

The survey of attitudes in 47 countries also reports that support for Osama bin Laden has declined in many countries.

For example, the percentage of Jordanian Muslims who have confidence in Bin Laden as a world leader has fallen 36 percentage points to 20% since 2003 while the proportion who say suicide bombing is sometimes or always justified has dropped 20 percentage points to 23%.

The report says support for such bombings has dropped since 2002 in seven of eight countries where data were available. But Palestinian support for suicide bombings is strong, with 70% saying such attacks are often or sometimes justified.