AP - About 9 per cent of Indonesians support the use of violent attacks such as the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 civilians, including 88 Australians, if the attacks are aimed at defending Islam, a poll indicates.
At the same time, the survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute released has found that more than 80 per cent of the Indonesian population strongly condemned tactics used by al-Qaeda and affiliated Indonesian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah and favoured peaceful democracy.
"Nine per cent is certainly a significant figure to represent people supporting such extreme acts as the Bali bombings," Indonesian Survey Institute head Saiful Mujani told the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Jemaah Islamiah is blamed for killing more than 240 people in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, in a series of attacks since 2002.
The poll of nearly 1,100 Indonesians, conducted from September 23 to October 3, had a margin of error of three per cent.
The poll also found that 20 per cent of Indonesians support Jemaah Islamiah and militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir who served 26 months in prison for openly backing the 2002 bombings, although not all of those supported their tactics.
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