> I wouldn't want the pope's love life,
> but I sure
> envy his infallibility.
US military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay seem to be placing "Qurans on toilets in order to rattle suspects" as reported in the following story.
Ulhas
The Asian Age
12 May 2005
Afghans riot over US 'Quran abuse'
- By Stephen Graham
Kabul, May 11: Hundreds of students rampaged through the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday to protest against the alleged desecration of the Quran, Islam's holy book, by US military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. The police opened fire to control the rioters, and four people were reported killed and 71 wounded.
Shouting "Death to America," demonstrators smashed car and shop windows and stoned a passing convoy of American soldiers in Jalalabad, which is near the Pakistan border, in the biggest outpouring of anti-American sentiment since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Newsweek magazine had reported that interrogators at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had placed Qurans on toilets in order to rattle suspects, and in at least one case "flushed a holy book down the toilet."
The US embassy said it was "deeply concerned" at the violence, and said the American government would fully investigate the allegations of desecration. "The US respects the right of all people to practice their own religion, and that disrespect toward the holy book of any religion is unacceptable," charge d'affaires Richard Christenson said in a statement. Mobs also attacked the Pakistani consulate and the offices of two UN agencies and several relief organisations. No foreigners were reported hurt.
Murat Khan, Pakistan's deputy counsellor, said the consulate building as well as his boss' residence were in flames. People also broke into two UN compounds and burned two cars, a UN spokeswoman said.
The Pakistan government has said that it was "deeply dismayed" over the magazine report, and called for an inquiry. A coalition of hardline Islamic parties in Pakistan said it will hold nationwide protests on Friday, the traditional day of prayer.
In Jalalabad the US troops had fired into the air before quickly leaving the area, provincial intelligence chief Sardar Shah said. The Afghan interior ministry said four people were killed and that the 71 injured included seven police officers. It did not identify the victims any further or say how they were hurt.
Deputy provincial health chief Mohammed Ayub Shinwari said most of the injured were students. He reported that two of the dead had been fatally shot and many of the injured had also suffered gunshot wounds.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, one of the largest aid organisations in the country, said staff at its Jalalabad office took refuge on the roof as a mob stole, smashed or burned their equipment and torched two of their cars.
"There is a lot of damage to the city, they have burned a lot of things," provincial intelligence chief Sardar Shah said. US military spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore said American forces in the area were ordered back to their camps but had no information on whether any of them were caught up in the unrest.
The demonstrations began on Tuesday, when protesters burned an effigy of US President George W. Bush. An Associated Press television news cameraman said the crowds in Jalalabad grew larger and wilder after the police firing, and that the streets were deserted of traffic. Mobs pelted a government office and the local television station with rocks and tore down posters of President Hamid Karzai.
The police and government troops had restored order by early afternoon, witnesses said. University and high school students held similar but peaceful protests in cities in neighbouring Laghman province and Khost, further to the south.
Witnesses said students also demanded the release of all prisoners from Guantanamo, and that "American troops don't stay in Afghanistan forever" - tricky issues likely to be discussed when Mr Karzai meets Mr Bush in Washington later this month.
The United States is holding about 520 people at Guantanamo Bay, many of them Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks in America. (AP)