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>From Agence France Press, October 23: BAGHDAD (AFP) - More and more Iraqis view the US forces as "occupiers" not liberators and say they want an Islamic- style democracy, citing Iran as a model, said a new poll. The results found 67 percent of Iraqis view the US-led coalition as an occupying force, while only 46 percent of the population considered them as such when US troops rolled into Baghdad April 9, said the Iraqi Centre for Research and Strategic Studies. Over the same timeframe, those who viewed the US forces as liberators slumped from 43 percent to 15 percent, the study said. Asked about a future Iraqi government, 33 percent said they favoured an Islamic model as opposed to 30 percent who said yes to a Western-style democracy. Asked what country offered the best model for Iraq (news - web sites), 14 percent said Iran, followed by 13.5 percent who opted for the United Arab Emirates and 9.6 percent for the United States, it said. Nonetheless, people still want US forces in Iraq, with 30 percent saying they strongly supported the US presence in their country, compared to only 10 wanting the US troops to leave now. However, 23 percent said they "somewhat opposed" the US presence. "The figures represent Iraqis' conviction that the presence is necessary to prevent an eruption of internal dissensions," said Nabil al-Zuheir, the centre's director of political research. Concerning security conditions, 46 percent of Iraqis said the situation had deteriorated, while only 23 percent said it had improved. Iraqis expressed little confidence in the coalition's ability to make Iraq a safer place. Only 23 percent of those polled said they believed the coalition could make their cities more secure. Iraqis also said they had little faith in their political leaders, with 61 percent saying none of them were trustworthy. The Iraqi leaders, with the highest ratings, were clerics and members of Iraq's Shiite majority community. Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, received a positive rating of 58 percent. Fellow Shiite leaders Mohammed Bahr al-Ulum and Ibrahim al-Jaffari followed with positive ratings of 57 and 54 percent respectively. Sunni Muslim leader Adnan al-Pachachi came in next with a positive rating of 41 percent, trailed by Kurdish leaders Jalal al-Talabani and Massud Barzani at 39 and 36 percent respectively. Pentagon favourite Ahmad al-Chalabi weighed in at 26 percent, giving ammunition to his critics who claim he represents no real constituency at home and appeals more to the exile community. Despite his fugitive status, fallen dictator Saddam Hussein managed a rating of three percent. Shiite fundamentalist Moqtada Sadr, who has stridently demanded that US forces exit Iraq, received a weak rating of one percent. The rating reinforced the image of Sadr as an incendiary figure who has made little inroads beyond a hardcore group of young followers. The poll had a margin of error of three to four percent and was carried out between September 28 and October 10 with 1,620 interviews in Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Ramadi, Fallujah, Arbil and Sulaimaniyah. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk