Support for terrorism is falling in the Muslim world even while 70 per cent of Palestinians believe suicide attacks are justified, a survey in the United States has found.

The annual 'Global Attitudes' report, released by the Pew Research Centre Tuesday also said the US image in Muslim-majority countries remains abysmal, with many seeing it as a military threat.

In Lebanon, those who believe that suicide bombing is justified often or sometimes has slumped from 74 per cent five years ago to 34 per cent now.

In neighbouring Pakistan, where Islamist violence has surged, the figure is just nine per cent.

73 per cent of Pakistanis also see the US as a military threat for their country. The figure in 93 per cent in Bangladesh.

The Pew group also reported large drops in support for Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda [Images] founder blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

But in the Palestinian territories, 41 per cent said suicide bombing was justified often, and 29 per cent said sometimes. Just six per cent said it was never justified, by far the smallest proportion of the places polled.

The report concluded that the acceptance of extreme terrorist tactics in the Palestinian territories is uniform across major demographic groups including women, the young and the old, and those less religiously minded.