THE US’s ‘war on terror’ has failed to weaken its prime target al Qaeda, according to people in 22 out of 23 countries surveyed in a new poll for the BBC World Service.

On average only 22 per cent believe that al Qaeda has been weakened, while three in five believe that it has either had no effect or made al Qaeda stronger.

And while negative views of al Qaeda are most common in nearly all of the countries surveyed, this is not the case in Egypt and Pakistan – both pivotal nations in the conflict with al Qaeda.

In both of these countries far more have either mixed or positive feelings towards al Qaeda - Egypt 40 per cent mixed and 20 per cent  positive, Pakistan 22 per cent  mixed and 19 per cent  positive - than have negative feelings - Egypt 35per cent , Pakistan 19per cent.

Asked who is winning 'the conflict between al Qaeda and the United States' the predominant view of those polled is that neither the US nor al Qaeda is winning, with 15 countries holding this view.

In three countries – Kenya, Nigeria and Turkey - the dominant view is that the US is winning.

In no country does more than one in five – 21 per cent in Pakistan – believe that al Qaeda is winning. Views are divided in other countries.

On average 10 per cent think al Qaeda is winning, 22 per cent think the US is winning, and 47 per cent think neither side is winning.

"Despite its overwhelming military power, America’s war against al Qaeda is widely seen as having achieved nothing better than a stalemate and many believe that it has even strengthened al Qaeda," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes.

GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller added: "The fact that so many people in Egypt and Pakistan have mixed or even positive views of al Qaeda is yet another indicator that the US war on terror is not winning hearts and minds."

The results are drawn from a survey of 23,937 adult citizens across 23 countries conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between July 8 and September 12, 2008.