Iraqi poll names bin Laden man of the year

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is viewed as man of the year in Iraq for 2001, according to a new Iraqi poll.

The Iraqi radio and television department and Al Thawra, an official Iraqi daily newspaper, conducted the poll.

The poll, published in the Sunday edition of Al Thawra, said the Saudi-born dissident has been elected "the preferred political figure for his rejection of American hegemony and aggression in Afghanistan."

Thirty percent of those polled were men, and 40 percent were women. Fifty-four percent were students, and 46 percent included workers, farmers, pensioners and housewives, Al Thawra said.

Ninety-eight percent of those polled said the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were the most important events of 2001.