WASHINGTON, 18 May 2005 — Newsweek’s retraction of a report alleging desecration of the Qur’an by US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay failed yesterday to calm the storm.
The White House called on Newsweek to help repair the damage to the US image in the Muslim world done by its report while Afghanistan and Pakistan blasted the magazine for the costly mistake. Many in the Muslim world dismissed the retraction, saying it came under US government pressure and alleged that in the early days of the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay the abuse of the Muslim holy book was routine.
Newsweek retracted the report on Monday, saying it could not substantiate its May 9 report saying an internal military investigation had uncovered the desecration of the Qur’an.
“We appreciate the step that Newsweek took yesterday,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. “It was a good first step. And what we would like to see now is for Newsweek to work to help repair the damage that has been done, particularly in the region, and Newsweek certainly has the ability to help undo the damage.”
While offering few specifics, McClellan said Newsweek should explain “what happened and why they got it wrong, particularly to people in the region.”
“They can also talk about policies and practices of the United States military. Our United States military goes out of its way to treat the Holy Qur’an with great care and respect,” he said.
In Jeddah, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu met with US Consul General Gina Abercrombie Winstanley and urged Washington to speed up its probe into the incident. Winstanley handed a message from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the OIC chief. “The US consul general informed Ihsanoglu that the American administration was still conducting a thorough investigation of the incident despite Newsweek’s retraction of the report,” an OIC statement said.
An Afghan government spokesman said in Kabul that Newsweek should be held responsible for the damage caused by violent anti-American demonstrations. Sixteen people were killed in clashes with Afghan security forces during the demonstrations.
In Pakistan the government spurned the magazine’s apology as “not enough.” “Just an apology is not enough. They should think 101 times before publishing news that hurts hearts,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Pakistani daily The News quoted Hafiz Ehsan Saeed, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, as saying that the Qur’an was routinely desecrated at the US prison.
Saeed told the paper: “They would throw the holy book on the ground, trample upon it and tell the prisoner under interrogation no one could stop them from doing that. The news of sacrilege sent shockwaves among the prisoners and all of us went on a hunger strike.”
He said the hunger strike ended only after top American officials apologized for the desecration. “All of us ended the hunger strike, except for a Palestinian.”
