Majority in Arab countries want Syria’s Assad ousted - pollJune 23, 2012 - 10:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Overwhelming majorities in the Arab countries surrounding Syria want to see Syrian President Bashar Assad step down, The Jerusalem Post reports citing a new Pew Research Center poll. The only neighboring country surveyed that did not strongly endorse Assad's departure was Lebanon, where the public was split sharply along sectarian divides. Israel was not included in the report. Eighty-nine percent of Jordanians and Egyptians, 88% of Tunisians and 67% of Turks want Assad to go, as do 53% of Lebanese. But while only small minorities every country except Lebanon want him to stay, 97% of Shi'ite Lebanese do. In contrast, only 20% of Sunnis and 28% of Sunnis do. The numbers track closely with unfavorable views of Assad personally, which represents a dramatic shift. In a 2008 survey of Arab public opinion released by the Brookings Institution, Assad was the second most admired leader in the world after, trailing only Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. However, even in places with huge majorities in favor of Assad's relinquishing power, there is division about how that should be accomplished. Only in Tunisia - with 63% and 61% support respectively - do the majority of those surveyed want to see more sanctions applied or Arab military force used against Syria. And while there is some support in Jordan, Egypt and Turkey for Arab-led action - 28%, 47% and 29% respectively - backing for Western-led intervention is barely in the double digits (10% and 11% for the first two) and only somewhat higher (24%) in Turkey. The survey was conducted between mid-March and mid-April, before the most devastating civilian massacres were reported. The margins of error ranged between +/-3.8% to +/-5.2% in the various countries. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |