Poll shows Pakistanis' conflicted views before Swat

By Simon Cameron-Moore

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The prospect of Islamist militants destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan is a global fear, but only 10 percent of Pakistanis saw terrorism as their biggest worry, according to an opinion poll released on Monday.

For the vast majority economic issues such as inflation, unemployment and poverty were a greater problem, according to a survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a Washington-based organization chaired by Senator John McCain.

Carried out in March, some of the survey's results have been overtaken by the pace of events in Pakistan, where the army launched an offensive in recent weeks in and around the Swat valley after Taliban militants moved stealthily closer to Islamabad.

Having sought a deal with the militants by agreeing to impose sharia, Islamic law, across a large chunk of the northwest, the government unleashed the army after sensing a change in national mood as more people realized the Taliban would not be appeased.

Though arguably out of date, IRI's findings still revealed how conflicted Pakistanis have become in their views, and the scale of the challenge the government has faced trying to win support for its counter-terrorism strategy.

Even though 69 percent of people saw the presence of al Qaeda and the Taliban as a problem, 52 percent opposed using the army to fight extremists in North West Frontier Province and neighboring tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

ACCEPTANCE FOR SHARIA

The survey showed 80 percent of people supported the deal to introduce sharia in Swat and neighboring parts of the northwest, and most had expected it to bring peace.