Koran desecration story uproar: Newsweek apologises

Newsweek magazine has apologised for errors in a story alleging that interrogators at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran, saying it would re-examine the accusations, which sparked outrage and deadly protests in Afghanistan.

Fifteen people died and scores were injured in violence between protesters and security forces, prompting US promises to investigate the allegations.

After Muslim leaders in several countries condemned the US over the allegations, Pentagon officials blamed Newsweek for the flare-up and accused it of “irresponsible” reporting.

“We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the US soldiers caught in its midst,” Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in a note to readers.

In an issue dated May 9, the magazine reported that US military investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam’s holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Whitaker wrote that the magazine’s information came from ”a knowledgeable US government source”, and before it published the item, writers Michael Isikoff and John Barry sought comment from two Defence Department officials. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story but did not dispute the Koran charge, Whitaker said.

But on Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told the magazine that a review of the military’s investigation concluded ”it was never meant to look into charges of Koran desecration".

The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them "not credible".

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a statement that the original story was “demonstrably false” and ”irresponsible”, and “had significant consequences that reverberated throughout Muslim communities around the world”.

“Newsweek hid behind anonymous sources, which by their own admission do not withstand scrutiny,” Whitman said. ”Unfortunately, they cannot retract the damage they have done to this nation or those that were viciously attacked by those false allegations.”

After Newsweek published the story, demonstrations spread across Afghanistan and Muslims around the world decried the alleged desecration.

In Afghanistan, Islamic scholars and tribal elders called for the punishment of anyone found to have abused the Koran, said Maulawi Abdul Wali Arshad, head of the religious affairs department in Badakhshan province.

Lebanon’s most senior Shiite Muslim cleric yesterday said the reported desecration of the Koran is part of an American campaign aimed at disrespecting and smearing Islam.