UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4: A poll of seven majority Muslim nations has found conflicting views about the United Nations.

While there is widespread support for a more active UN with much broader powers than it has today, there also is a perception that the world body is dominated by the US and there is dissatisfaction with its performance on several fronts, particularly in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The findings are from a WorldPublicOpinion.org survey in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories and Azerbaijan. Muslims in Nigeria (50 per cent of the general population) were also polled, a statement said on Wednesday.

Publics in all nations polled favour the UN Security Council having its own standing peacekeeping force (on average 64pc), having the authority to go into countries to investigate human rights violations (average 63pc), and having the right to authorise military force to stop a country from supporting terrorist groups (average 76pc), or to prevent severe human rights violations such as genocide (average 77pc).

The survey was conducted in two parts in 2008. Overall, 6,175 respondents were interviewed in the first wave and 5,363 in the second; a total of 11,538 respondents participated in the study.

“While many people in Muslim countries express disappointment with the UN, this actually masks their underlying desire for a UN that is robust and powerful,” comments Steven Kull, director of World Public Opinion.org.