The number of Americans approving US President George W. Bush's handling of terrorism, a central issue for his reelection campaign, has declined, a poll released Monday showed.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll found that approval of Bush's handling of terrorism has dropped to 50 percent, with 48 percent disapproving, down eight percentage points in May.

The poll also found that for the first time, more than half of Americans - 52 percent - believed the Iraq war was not worth fighting.

Moreover, Democratic Senator John Kerry, Bush's major rival in his reelection bid for the White House, now runs even with Bush intrust to handle this issue. Bush led Kerry by 13 points on this issue last month and by 21 points the month before. The poll showed Kerry led Bush by 48-47.

Less than half of Americans - 47 percent - approved Bush's overall job performance, with 51 percent disapproving.

If the presidential elections were held now, the poll showed, Kerry would receive support from 48 percent registered voters, against 44 percent for Bush and 6 percent for independent Ralph Nader. In a two-man race, Kerry would lead Bush by 53-45.

The poll with a margin of sampling error of three percentage points was conducted of 1,201 adults on June 17-20, after the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks issued reports last week that showed the administration's shortcomings inresponse to the attacks and said there were no collaborative relationship between prewar Iraq and al Qaida.

Source: Xinhua