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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Afghans riot after soldiers burn copies of Qur'an

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 02/22/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Riots erupted outside and inside the U.S. airbase at Bagram on Tuesday after two U.S. soldiers apparently partially burned several copies of the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book.

The latest huge cultural misstep by U.S. forces prompted an immediate and abject apology from Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, who is the top NATO and American officer in Afghanistan.

In a note that began "to the noble people of Afghanistan," Allen said he had ordered an investigation into the incident on Monday evening, which he said resulted when soldiers "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included (Qur'ans)."

The religious books were used by mostly Afghan and Pakistani prisoners held in detention on the Bagram Airfield.

Afghan workers at the base dump spotted the U.S. soldiers -- a man and a woman according the Afghan news reports -- burning materials. Some of what they were burning turned out to be Qur'ans, which one of the workers spirited outside the base to show to others, including religious leaders.

By Tuesday morning a crowd of about 3,000 Afghans had gathered outside the base to protest the burnings. The entrance to the sprawling former Soviet base, which is a key logistics and fighter jet hub, was closed for the day.

"We are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to ensure that this does not ever happen again," Allen said in his statement. "I assure you... I promise you... this was NOT intentional in any way."

The general also offered "sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused to the president of Afghanistan." He then repeated the phrase, "noble people of Afghanistan."

Canada has 911 military advisers in Afghanistan. Most are stationed in and around Kabul.

Canadian troops are given cultural awareness classes that deal with religious and social issues before deploying to Afghanistan.

Allen later directed all NATO and other coalition forces to receive proper training for the handling of religious materials by March 3.

Last month, U.S. marines were seen on video urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban.

-- Postmedia News

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 22, 2012 A9

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