Washingtoner Nov 17, 2005- Nearly half of Americans believe that the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain information is justified, according to a survey published on Thursday by the Pew Research Centre in Washington.

The survey, involving 2 006 people from the general public, found that 46% felt that torturing terrorist suspects to gain important information was sometimes (31%) or often (15%) justified while 17% thought it was rarely justified and 32% were opposed.

By contrast, the study found that of 520 opinion leaders also questioned on the same issue, no more than one in four believes that torture of terrorist suspects can be sometimes or often justified.

"Strong opposition to torture is particularly pronounced among security experts, religious leaders and academics, the majority of whom say the use of torture to gain important information is never justified," the survey report said.

It added that while opinion leaders largely agree in opposing the use of torture, their views widely differ as to who should be held responsible for prisoner abuse in Iraq and the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

It noted that more than 50% of academics, news media leaders, foreign affairs experts and scientists believe such abuses are the result of official policy, against 60% of military and religious leaders who think prisoner mistreatment is mostly the result of misconduct on the part of soldiers and contractors.

"The general public is divided over this question - 48% believe soldiers and contractors are to blame, while 36% blame official policies," the report said.

As to concerns that anti-terrorism policies may be infringing on basic civil liberties, the survey found that 48% of the general public felt that current policies had not gone far enough to adequately protect the country while 34% worried they had gone too far in restricting civil liberties.

The findings are part of a quadrennial survey by the Pew Research Centre on foreign policy attitudes among opinion leaders and the general public.

The opinion poll was conducted between September 5 and October 31.

Its findings come amid fresh allegations of abuse by US forces against prisoners in Iraq and an international uproar at reports that the CIA operated secret prisons in eastern Europe for the interrogation of terror suspects.