Russian claims Koran desecrated at Camp X-Ray

A Russian formerly held at Guantanamo Bay today claimed soldiers there regularly desecrated the Koran by putting it in a toilet.

“In Cuba, they used to throw the Koran in the toilet bowl. This happened regularly and was intended to provoke us,” said Airat Vakhitov.

Vakhitov is one of seven Russians who were released from Guantanamo in March 2004 and returned to Russia. He and the six others were held in Russia for three months, then released last June.

Vakhitov said he previously had been held by US forces at Kandahar in Afghanistan, where many detainees were held before being sent to Guantanamo, and that he also saw Koran desecration there.

“In Kandahar, they tore up copies of the Koran and even put it in a bucket of faeces,” he said.