Muslims stage anti-US rallies over Koran abuse report

Anti-US protests over Quran report grow

Friday 13 May 2005, 22:42 Makka Time, 19:42 GMT

Thousands of Muslims have staged protests around the world over the alleged desecration of the Quran at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

Protests in Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan and Indonesia followed demonstrations across much of Afghanistan in the past few days in which 14 people were killed and dozens injured after clashes with police.

Saudia Arabia, Iraq and Syria have registered displeasure at the alleged desecration.

The spreading anger comes after a report published by Newsweek magazine said that US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated copies of the Quran by leaving them in toilet cubicles and stuffing one down a lavatory.

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So now we have these anti-US rallies in, what, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, Indonesia.... anywhere else? How important are these recent events? How important are they in the US media? Any opinions?

Al Jazeera: Anti-US protests spread in Afghanistan


Friday 13 May 2005, 0:18 Makka Time, 21:18 GMT

Anti-US protests sparked by reports of desecration of the Quran by American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay have spread across Afghanistan, leaving three more people dead. ...

... The protests were sparked by a small report in Newsweek magazine last week stating that interrogators at the US military detention centre in Guantanamo Bay desecrated copies of the Quran by leaving them in toilet cubicles and even stuffing one down a lavatory to rattle Muslim prisoners ...

... The US has promised to investigate the desecration claim.

Rice statement

US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice on Thursday called disrespect for the holy book "abhorrent" and promised to punish offenders.

Our military authorities are investigating these allegations fully," Rice said. "If they are proven true, we will take appropriate action. Respect for religious freedom for all individuals is one of the founding principles of the United States."

But the top US military officer said a review of interrogation logs has so far found no evidence to corroborate the explosive allegations.

"They cannot confirm yet that there was ever the case of the toilet incident except in one case, a log entry that they still have to confirm, where a detainee was reported by a guard to be ripping pages out of a Quran and putting them in a toilet to stop it up as a protest," said General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I suspect what is happening in this regard is a product of the Madrasas - witness the videos showing the "rampaging crowds" to be composed chiefly of youths and bearded elders in traditional garb. I espect thorough investigation, as announced and now under way, will confirm no such incident took place. I do not expect the results of that investigation will placate some folks. There are those who will believe whatever they find convenient to believe.

It's interesting how the first story you posted is from 2001 and the rest are recent.

Jakarta, capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation Indonesia, saw a rally at a mosque by hundreds of people protesting against the alleged sacrilege. Students in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sulawesi island took to the streets and searched hotels and the airport for any Americans, Detikcom news portal reported. No Americans were found.

Myers Addresses Violence in Iraq, Afghanistan

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, May 12, 2005 - The recent spike in violence in Iraq represents an attempt to discredit the new Iraqi government and cabinet, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Pentagon reporters here today.
Similarly, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said, a May 11 incident in Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- in which at least three people died and scores were injured -- appears tied up to the political process there, including President Hamid Karzai's reconciliation program.

An after-action report by Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, determined that the Jalalabad incident "was not necessarily the result of allegations about disrespect for the Koran" by guards at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Myers said.

A magazine article said U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Korean down a toilet, and the Jalalabad violence was widely reported to have grown from anti-American protests sparked by the article. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of U.S. Southern Command, is in Guantanamo Bay "digging into this issue," Myers said, but no interrogation logs reviewed so far have confirmed such an incident.

One log entry, still unconfirmed, did note that a detainee had been found "ripping pages out of the Korean and putting them in the toilet to stop it up as a protest," Myers said.

Several other log entries showed that detainees had been "irritated" when a copy of the Koran had been moved, but no confirmation has been made that a copy was ever thrown into a toilet, Myers said.

Members of Joint Task Force Guantanamo "are sensitive to the religious beliefs and practices of the detainees in U.S. custody," noted a statement issued May 11 by U.S. Southern Command. The statement said Craddock directed an inquiry into the validity of information in the magazine article after it surfaced May 10.

Meanwhile, in Iraq the surge in terrorist attacks, many using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, generally involves "Iraqis blowing up Iraqis," Myers said.

"I don't know how (the insurgents) expect to curry favor with the Iraqi population when we have Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence," he said.

In response, Myers said, coalition forces are continuing their ongoing strategy, which he described as "to get the Iraqis in front of this process."

Polls show that Iraqis "are sick and tired of this violence" and are increasingly coming forward with intelligence about insurgent activity. "The intelligence is better and better every day from the Iraqis," Myers said.

The increase in violent attacks underscores the fact that the Iraqis and coalition are dealing with "a very violent insurgency" and "a thinking and adapting adversary," he said.

Their use of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, which Myers called "a very tough device to thwart," demonstrates their adaptability, he said.

Insurgencies typically last three to nine years, and countering the one in Iraq is a "tough fight," Myers said.

"In the end, it is going to have to be the Iraqis that win this," he said.

Pakistan Times: Afghans holding Pakistan responsible for US actions

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Commenting on the backlash and an attack on the Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad in Afghanistan against the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by US troops, Editor of the Daily Times Najam Sethi said the Afghans were holding Pakistan responsible for the US atrocities at Guantanamo Bay.

Speaking on an Indus Plus news channel programme on the telephone, Mr Sethi said the British press revealed such incidents of desecration last year but the backlash was not the same. Describing the reasons for the current scenario and the demonstrations following the desecration, Mr Sethi said, "The Taliban have intensified their attacks against the US troops in Afghanistan as their last resort to destabilize the Afghan government. The second reason for the anger against Pakistan is its role in the war against terrorism ...