The survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations found majorities in only nine countries believe al-Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people in 2001.

US officials squarely blame al-Qaeda, whose leader Osama bin Laden has boasted of organising the suicide attacks by his followers using hijacked commercial airliners.

On average, 46 per cent of those surveyed said al-Qaeda was responsible, 15 per cent said the US government, 7 per cent said Israel and 7 per cent said some other perpetrator. One in four people said they did not know who was behind the attacks.

The poll was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaborative project of research centres in various countries managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland in the United States.

In Europe, al-Qaeda was cited by 56 per cent of Britons and Italians, 63 per cent of French and 64 per cent of Germans. The US government was to blame, according to 23 per cent of Germans and 15 per cent of Italians.

Respondents in the Middle East were especially likely to name a perpetrator other than al-Qaeda, the poll found.

Israel was behind the attacks, said 43 per cent of people in Egypt, 31 per cent in Jordan and 19 per cent in the Palestinian Territories. The US government was blamed by 36 per cent of Turks and 27 per cent of Palestinians.

In Mexico, 30 per cent cited the US government and 33 per cent named al-Qaeda.

The only countries with overwhelming majorities blaming al-Qaeda were Kenya with 77 per cent and Nigeria with 71 per cent.

Interviews were conducted in China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Egypt, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and Ukraine.