Riots over US Quran Desecration

12/05/2005| IslamWeb

At least four people have died and many were hurt after police fired shots to disperse anti-US protests in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, officials say.

The city is now said to be calm after widespread damage to property. All but essential UN staff are being withdrawn.

Afghan National Army soldiers were deployed on the streets of Jalalabad, which lies 130km (80 miles) east of Kabul and is close to the Pakistani border, to try to bring order.

A US military spokesman said US units were not deployed.

The Afghan interior ministry says four people were killed, and more than 70 injured in a second day of unrest.

"Police opened fire in the air to control the mob, and some people were injured," Jalalabad police chief, Abdul Rehman, told the AFP news agency.

Two United Nations guest houses were attacked, as were shops and government buildings, and the offices of two international aid groups were destroyed.

Many foreign aid agency personnel are being pulled out too.

The protesters chanted "Death to America" and smashed car windows and damaged shops.

Smoke could be seen rising from various points in the city.

One eyewitness said: "They were shouting anti-Karzai and anti-Bush slogans. Angry demonstrators carrying sticks and stones clashed with police forces in the city centre."

There were also reports of anti-US protests in the south-eastern city of Khost, and in Laghman province, where a demonstration was dispersed peacefully by police.

Reports of abuse

The unrest follows a recent report in the American magazine, Newsweek, that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Quran in order to put pressure on Muslim prisoners.

Investigators probing reported abuses at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed the Quran copies on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy Book down the toilet," Newsweek said.

Former Guantanamo inmates told the BBC Urdu service earlier this month that some Arab prisoners had still not spoken to their interrogators after three years to protest at the desecration of the Quran by guards at the camp.

On Sunday, the Pakistani government said it was "deeply dismayed" over the reports about the Quran.

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan university students march in the streets in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, carrying copies of the Qur'an and sticks and tree branches Wednesday. (AP)