Sudan calls for rapid investigation into alleged Quran desecration

KHARTOUM, May 17 (Xinhua) — The Sudanese government on Tuesday called for a rapid investigation into the alleged desecration of the Islamic holy Quran by US troops in Guantanamo Bay detention.

“We have been acquainted with what the US magazine of Newsweek reported on the issue and we felt with tremendous resentment and strong rejection to this barbarian and repugnant action,” said a statement issued by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry.

The Sudanese government demanded the prosecution and punishment of those “who committed the crime (of desecration) when this odious behavior is proved true,” it added.

The statement also condemned the alleged desecration of Quran as violating freedom of Muslim’s holy book and ignoring the human rights of religion and worship.

Widespread anti-US demonstrations have been held in Muslim nations across the world over the allegations reported in Newsweek on May 9 that interrogators placed copies of Quran in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

The magazine on Monday apologized for errors in the story.

“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.