Washington, Sept 12 : Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is more popular than President Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan, according to a poll conducted by an independent polling organization, Terror Free Tomorrow.

While the approval rating of dreaded al Qaeda chief was 46 per cent, Musharraf was down to 38 per cent.

Expectedly, US President George Bush's approval rating in Pakistan was merely 9 per cent, and local radical extremist groups had an approval rating between 37 percent and 49 percent.

The poll, which was conducted last month, by the international anti-terror organisation has found that nearly 75 per cent respondents expressed their opposition to the US military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.

"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world, and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," CNN quoted Ken Ballen, the group's head, as saying.

"Pakistan is the one Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, and the people who want to use them against us -- like the Taliban and al Qaeda -- are more popular there than our allies like Musharraf," Ballen added.