From: the U.S. Department of State Website:
Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, General Says
Army investigating allegations of mishandling at Guantanamo Bay facility
http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive/2005/May/13-299433.htmlBy Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington - The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says a report
from Afghanistan suggests that rioting in Jalalabad on May 11 was not
necessarily
connected to press reports that the Quran might have been desecrated in
the
presence of Muslim prisoners held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that
he
has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to
the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything
else.
According to initial reports, the situation in Jalalabad began on May 10
with
peaceful student protests reacting to a report in Newsweek magazine that
U.S.
military interrogators questioning Muslim detainees at the Guantanamo
detention center "had placed Quran s on toilets, and in at least one case
flushed a
holy book." By the following day the protests in the city had turned
violent
with reports of several individuals killed, dozens wounded, and widespread
looting of government, diplomatic and nongovernmental assets.
However, Myers said an after-action report provided by U.S. Army
Lieutenant
General Karl Eikenberry, commander of the Combined Forces in Afghanistan,
indicated that the political violence was not, in fact, connected to the
magazine
report.
Meanwhile, Myers said the U.S. military has assigned Army General Bantz
Craddock to investigate allegations about the handling of the Quran at
Guantanamo.
Craddock brings the full weight of his responsibility as commander of the
U.S. Southern Command to this effort.
Myers said the International Committee of the Red Cross has approved the
edition of the Quran that has been distributed to Muslim detainees in
Guantanamo.
Craddock has been investigating the claim that proper respect was not
given
to the Koran. There are now some 550 enemy combatants at the military
installation, which is designed to isolate individuals whom the military
has
identified as likely to have valuable intelligence about international
terrorism.
Craddock and his team have examined the prisoner interrogation logs and
Myers
said "they cannot confirm yet" that there ever was a case of a U.S.
interrogator flushing a Quran down the toilet. He did say there is
another
unconfirmed log reference to a guard report that a detainee tore pages
from the Quran
and flushed them in an attempt to flood the holding area as a form of
protest.
Myers answered questions about the alleged Quran incident on the same day
that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the issue during an
appearance before the House International Relations Committee.
She said disrespect for the Quran will never be tolerated by the United
States and such disrespect "is abhorrent to us all." Pakistan has voiced
its
concerns about the alleged incident, and Rice said the United States
understands
and shares the concerns of its Muslim friends. She went on to voice this
request: "I am asking that all our friends around the world reject
incitement to
violence by those who would mischaracterize our intentions."
http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive/2005/May/13-299433.html