Poll: Only slight majority in Egypt backs al-Sissi
CAIRO - Only a slight majority of Egyptians look favorably on Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, the former army chief who ousted the elected president and is now a heavy favorite to win next week's presidential elections, according to a poll released Thursday by a US-based research center.
The poll found that 54 percent of respondents look favorably on al-Sissi, while 45 percent view him unfavorably. The military takeover he led last July to oust Morsi had the support of 54 percent, while 43 percent oppose it.
Significantly, 42 percent looked favorably at Morsi, who is in detention and on trial for a range of charges - some of which carry the death penalty - and is daily demonized by the media. In a Pew poll a year ago, before his ouster, Morsi had an approval rating of 53 percent.
Pew's poll was based on 1,000 face-to-face interviews with adults who are 18 and older. The interviews were conducted between April 10 and 29. It has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.(AP)
