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Huge majority of Arabs want Gaddafi removed from power

Wednesday, May 18 2011

Huge majority of Arabs want Gaddafi removed from power

A staggering 75 percent of Arabs want to see the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi forcibly removed from power, according to an opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

A similar number of respondents support immediate, external intervention in Libya, but insist that Arab governments should mount the operation, without assistance from NATO.

In April, by contrast, more than half the mainly-Arab audience at The Doha Debates supported military action led by the Western alliance. The latest opinion survey was conducted between April 26 and May 2 by 1,000 respondents in 16 Arab states.

Only one in 10 Arabs now believe Colonel Gaddafi is legitimate - compared to 41 percent who have thrown their support behind the National Transitional Council based in Benghazi.

As for other flashpoints in the Middle East, a majority said they would not support any NATO moves in Bahrain - but would welcome the alliance's intervention in Syria if civilians continued to be killed in the widespread disturbances.