United Nations, Dec 5, SPA -- People in Muslim nations favor a stronger United Nations with broader powers but also feel that the United States holds too much sway over the world body, a poll released on Wednesday shows. There is also dissatisfaction with the way the U.N. has handled the Israel-Palestine conflict. The poll, conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, was conducted in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories, and Azerbaijan. Muslims in Nigeria, who constitute 50 percent of the general population, were also polled.“While many people in Muslim countries express disappointment with the U.N., this actually masks their underlying desire for a U.N. that is robust and powerful,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, in a press release. A majority of people in all the countries surveyed said the U.N. Security Council should have its own standing peacekeeping force and should have the authority to go into countries to investigate human rights violations. The view that the U.N. is controlled by the United States is endorsed by 68 percent of Egyptians, 63 percent of Palestinians, 59 percent of Jordanians, and 53 percent of Turks. Respondents were also asked to assess a variety of U.N. efforts, rating them on a scale with 0 meaning “not all helpful” and 10 meaning “extremely helpful.” The lowest ratings are for U.N. efforts in “working to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The average response is 3.7 with the lowest ratings coming from Jordanians, 2.5 and Palestinians 2.6. On a more positive note, ratings for the U.N. performance in “providing humanitarian aid” were just below 6. More than 50 percent of those polled in each country said they favor “the U.N. becoming significantly more powerful in world affairs.”--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/613957