An overwhelming majority of nearly 85 per cent of the Spanish population is against war on Iraq according to an opinion poll published today, despite Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's staunch support for the US stance.
Asked the question "Are you in favour of a war in Iraq?" 84.7 per cent replied "under no circumstances" in the poll carried out for the daily El Mundoafter more than three million people took part in anti-war demonstrations a week ago.
Only 11.8 per cent of those polled said they would support a war if it had the approval of the United Nations. A tiny 2.3 per cent said they were in favour of war led by the United States and its allies, while 1.2 per cent had no opinion.
A total of 75.4 per cent said they disapproved of their government's position on the Iraq crisis, while 20.2 per cent supported it and 4.6 per cent had no opinion.
However, a majority of 55.6 per cent of people questioned did see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as a threat to world peace, against per cent who did not.
Mr Aznar, whose country currently holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, was in Crawford, Texas, today for talks on Iraq with US President George W. Bush at his ranch retreat. The conservative El Mundo, traditionally close to the government, has been campaigning vigorously against a war in Iraq.
The telephone poll was carried out among a sample of 1,000 people aged over than 18 between february 18 and 20.
AFP