Moscow, 3 April: Nearly half of the people of Russia are indifferent to Iraqi President Saddam Husayn, according to a nationwide opinion poll conducted by
the Public Opinion Foundation.
According to the results, which were published today, 48 per cent of those polled described their attitude to the Iraqi leader as indifferent. Another 17 per cent of Russian dislike Saddam, while 22 per cent now say they like the Iraqi president. The number of his supporters, however, has increased by
6 per cent over the past year, and the pollsters believe the change was brought about by the war in Iraq.
Apparently for the same reason, the popularity of the US president among the
Russians has fallen dramatically. The number of those who dislike the US leader has increased by 50 per cent compared with last year's results - from
45 to 76 per cent. Only 11 per cent of the Russians polled said they liked George W. Bush.
Fifteen hundred Russian citizens took part in the survey.