Doha Debates Poll: Arabs Say Iranian Nuclear Weapons 'Intolerable'

Doha Debates Poll: Arabs Say Iranian Nuclear Weapons 'Intolerable'

DOHA, Qatar, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 40 percent of Iraqis would have Washington bomb Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme, while more than half of all Arabs share the US view that a nuclear-armed Tehran is intolerable.

The opinions emerged in a YouGov poll, commissioned by the Doha Debates, a public forum in Qatar, where the audience voted last month by a large margin that the region would be better off with an Obama administration.

According to the poll, 60 percent urge the next president to negotiate with Tehran and count the nuclear issue as one his top three foreign policy priorities.

Arabs also believe President-elect Obama would make a better mediator than more established figures such as Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa, France's President Sarkozy and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

In all, some 60 percent say Senator Obama will be a better president than George W. Bush, but little more than a third believe he can turn the US into a "force for good."

The survey of Middle Eastern attitudes to America's presidential election involved 850 respondents in North Africa, the Gulf, Levant and Iraq and was conducted between November 6 and 11.

About the Doha Debates:

The Doha Debates are a unique forum for free speech in the Arab world. Chaired by Tim Sebastian, the internationally renowned award winning broadcaster, the series has been broadcast on BBC World since January 2005. BBC World reaches nearly 300 million people in more than 200 countries.

The Doha Debates are hosted and funded by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The Foundation is a private, chartered, nonprofit organization committed to the belief that a nation's true wealth is in the potential of its people. Chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, the wife of the Emir, it seeks to develop that potential through a network of centres devoted to education, public health and research.

   For further information, please contact Bell Pottinger Communications:    Patrick Forbes: +974 5885345 / pforbes@bell-pottinger.co.uk   (International)   Or visit http://www.thedohadebates.com/  

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Source: Doha Debates

CONTACT: Tom Nadolski for Doha Debates, +1-617-226-7195,
tnadolski@bellpottingerusa.com

Web site: http://www.thedohadebates.com/

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