Poll: Jordanians classify al-Qaida as terrorists

The majority of Jordanians now view al-Qaida as a terrorist group rather than a legitimate resistance movement, according to a poll published Thursday. The survey, conducted following al-Qaida's triple hotel suicide bombings in Amman in November, found that the percentage of Jordanians who consider al-Qaida as a resistance movement had dropped significantly, from 66.8 percent in 2004 to just 20 percent. The poll, which had a 3 percent of margin of error, was conducted by the University of Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies. The Nov. 9 bombings killed 63 people, including the three bombers. Faris Breizat, who supervised the survey, said it sampled 1,417 Jordanians from different political viewpoints in the kingdom between Dec. 1-7. The survey, faxed to The Associated Press, also showed a decline in those who considered Hamas as a legitimate resistance organization: 73.5 percent labeled the group as such, compared to 86.7 percent in 2004. It showed 5.8 percent considered Hamas a terrorist group, compared to 1.8 percent in 2004.