ISLAMABAD, 14 May 2005 — Protests and anger against the alleged desecration of the Holy Qur’an by US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay spread across the Muslim world yesterday, with nine Afghans dying in fresh violence and protesters rallying in Pakistan and Indonesia.
According to Newsweek magazine US interrogators defiled copies of the holy book to rattle Muslim prisoners.
In Pakistan, a key ally in what the United States calls a war on terrorism, hundreds of protesters burned US flags and effigies of President George W. Bush to vent their anger over the allegations, witnesses said.
Demonstrators in several cities chanted “Death to America” while speakers at rallies called by an alliance of religious parties demanded the US government punish those involved in the reported desecration.
About 6,000 Afghan refugees also staged a demonstration in a camp near the conservative northwestern city of Peshawar, before dispersing peacefully.
Demonstrators waving brightly colored banners and placards in the central city of Multan urged the US government to arrest and punish the culprits.
They chanted slogans against US President George W. Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
In Lahore, hundreds of people protested and burned tires.
During a rally in the port city of Karachi, a senior Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) member Mairajul Huda told protesters that people “should rise against the anti-Muslim policies of the United States.”
Hundreds of people protested in Islamabad also.
Speaking in Sydney, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmoud Kasuri called for severe punishment for any US soldiers proved to have been involved in any abuse of the Qur’an. “Even the worst enemy of the United States could not harm the image of the United States in the Muslim world as effectively as they’ve done if this is correct,” he said.
In Jakarta, hundreds of Indonesians staged a rally at a mosque 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.
Muslim Arabs also expressed anger as Palestinians took to the streets in protest.
In the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, around 2,000 demonstrators held aloft copies of the Qur’an and Hamas flags as they marched through the streets in a protest.
An American and an Israeli flag were burned during the demonstration.
Nizar Rayan, a Hamas political leader, said the demonstrators were outraged by “the profanation of the Qur’an by the enemies of God at Guantanamo, and by the Zionist enemies in the prison of occupation”.
In the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, around 400 people protested the alleged incident in the US camp after attending prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Egypt’s Islamist opposition strongly condemned the incident.
“The Muslim Brotherhood has been shaken by news of the desecration of the Qur’an by American interrogators at Guantanamo,” the movement’s leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef said.
The banned but tolerated group “expresses its extreme anger, firmly condemns and deplores this odious and humiliating act, and calls on the American government to publicly apologize”.
The group called for the toughest punishment to be meted out on the perpetrators.
In Iraq, Sunni and Shiite imams alike spoke out against the alleged desecration in their Friday sermons.
“We condemn the desecrations of the Qur’an carried out by American soldiers at Guantanamo,” said Sheikh Abdel Zahra Suyaidi, a follower of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr. Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed Abdel Ghafur Al-Samarrai also complained against the shameful incident.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used an appearance before a Senate committee on Thursday to make a special statement to Muslims in America and across the world, and promise a full investigation.
“Disrespect for the Holy Qur’an is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States,” she said.
“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.” She said that over the past few days the United States has heard from Muslims throughout the world about their concerns.
“We understand and share these concerns,” Rice said.
“Sadly, some people have lost their lives in violent demonstrations,” she said. “I am asking that all our friends reject incitement to violence by those who would mischaracterize our intentions.”
The Saudi government on Thursday urged the US to carry out a rapid inquiry, saying that if the allegations were found to be true, measures should be taken to dissuade against any similar incident in the future.
“(Riyadh) calls on the competent authorities to implement a swift inquiry into the cases,” a Foreign Ministry source said.
“If the cases turn out to be true, the Saudi government underlines the necessity of taking dissuasive measures... against those responsible (for the desecration) to prevent its repetition and to respect Muslims’ feelings around the world.”
