Opinion poll shows most Iraqis worry about security in Iraq

A large majority of Iraqi people believed that regaining public security must be the top priority in their country after the power transfer in Iraq, according to a new opinion poll published on Monday.

The survey, published on the same day as the coalition forces formally transferred power to the interim Iraqi government two days earlier than expected, questioned 3,002 Iraqis across Iraq between May 19 and June 14,

Conducted by the British-based consultancy Oxford Research International, the poll found 87 percent of the Iraqi people were worried about fighting between the coalition forces and insurgents, as well as widespread crime.

On the question of how life has changed since former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was ousted, 32 percent of the Iraqis said it was about the same, and about 25 percent said it was somewhat worse or much worse.

The poll, which found that nearly 60 percent of Iraqis believe that US-led forces were wrong to invade Iraq, also showed that nearly 60 percent of the Iraqis believed that the United States must help rebuild Iraq if it wants the country's interim government succeed.

About 50 percent of the Iraqis said what Iraq needs in the next12 months should be a strong Iraqi leader and nearly 50 percent thought that democracy was their country's priority in the next five years.

However, the poll found that many Iraqis were confused about how democracy could be ensured in a diverse and unstable country and more than 80 percent said they have no confidence in the US and British forces.

Analysts here believed that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison could be one of the reasons why the popularity of the coalition forces has fallen to its lowest point.

Source: Xinhua