AP Poll: 9 Out of 10 Want UN Backing

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nine of 10 Americans want the United Nations to play a major role in pulling countries together to fight against terrorism, says an Associated Press poll taken after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sixty-four percent said the United Nations is doing a good job solving problems it must face, while 24 percent said it was doing a poor job, according to the poll conducted for the AP by ICR of Media, Pa.

That confidence level in the world body is 10 points higher than it was early this year, and nearly double the confidence level registered in the mid-1990s.

French President Jacques Chirac urged the United Nations this week to lead the fight against terrorism. The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, said building an international coalition to combat terrorism would be his top priority.

The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to discuss international terrorism Oct. 1 in a meeting of all 189 members. The General Assembly postponed its annual gathering of world leaders this past week because of security difficulties after the attacks, but the meeting of U.N. representatives will be held.

The American public, including some in Congress, has long held mixed feelings about the United Nations. Nearly half said in the AP poll that the United States should pay its full dues to the organization, while about one-third disagreed. The poll of 1,011 adults was taken Sept. 14 to 18 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Some members of Congress have blocked the United States from paying its full dues because of differences over U.N. policies and practices, although there have been recent negotiations to resolve that situation.

Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to oppose paying the full dues - 43 percent to 25 percent. Democrats, young adults, women and those who made less than $25,000 a year were more likely to say the United Nations is doing a good job.

In September 1995, just over a third in a Gallup poll said the United Nations was doing a good job solving the problems it had to face. But even then, a strong majority felt the United States should stay in the organization.

``The U.N. definitely needs to be involved'' in the fight against terrorism, said Barbara Kasprzyk, a 40-year-old retail manager who lives near Pittsburgh. ``It's too much of a global economy for us to act as a free agent.''

U.N. officials said this week there is a possibility of a ministerial meeting on terrorism. The General Assembly is also considering two new anti-terrorism conventions to add to the dozen legally binding treaties and protocols that cover issues such as hijacking, funding terrorism and hostage-taking.

Some feel the United Nations has taken too many positions counter to American interests. Three-fourths in the poll said countries getting U.S. aid should support this country's positions in the international organization.

Chuck Ingerson, a 56-year-old former government worker from Kingland, Ga., said: ``My feeling about the U.N. is that most of its missions have been to take down the freedoms of the U.S.''

EDITOR'S NOTE - Associated Press Writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

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