Opinions of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden remain largely negative among the Muslim publics surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Majorities of Muslims in five of the seven countries surveyed in 2010 express unfavorable views of the extremist group and say they have little or no confidence in its leader. Only in Nigeria do Muslims offer views that are, on balance, positive toward al Qaeda and bin Laden with roughly half (49%) expressing a favorable view of al Qaeda compared with 34% with an unfavorable opinion. Similarly, Nigerians express support for bin Laden by a 48%-to-40% margin. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.