Islamic world holds anti-US protests

THOUSANDS of Muslims marched yesterday in countries from Asia to the Middle East, burning symbols of America to protest against the alleged desecration of the Koran by military personnel at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay.

The rallies in Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere followed an admission on Thursday by US investigators that Islam’s holy book was mishandled at Guantanamo. But American officials claimed it was often inadvertent and denied that any Koran were flushed down a toilet, as Newsweek magazine had reported in a now-retracted article.

No injuries were reported in Friday’s demonstrations, with police simply watching in most places.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, however, police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse hundreds of Muslims gathered outside a mosque in Srinagar.

Women in black veils marched through Kashmir, where schools and businesses were closed as part of the protest, and set American flags and copies of the US constitution ablaze.

More than 15,000 people took to the streets of Pakistan’s largest cities. A demonstration in the capital of Islamabad began in a tense atmosphere, just hours after a bomb at a Muslim shrine killed at least 20.

The rallies were organised by a hardline religious coalition, Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal.

About 12,000 people, many of them supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, gathered in Alexandria, Egypt, listening to preachers who demanded an apology.

Around a 1,000 people gathered in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, carrying black banners and burning American and Israeli flags.

Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Muslim countries since the Newsweek report.

In Washington on Thursday, investigators confirmed five cases in which military personnel mishandled the Koran of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay since 2002. But they said they found no “credible evidence” that a copy was flushed in a toilet.