Posted on 05/14/2005 3:07:18 PM PDT by Cornpone
The Pakistani foreign minister has said that if reports that US guards at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran are true, they should be severely punished. Khurshid Kasuri said that the allegations had provoked outrage throughout the Islamic world.
At least seven people died and many more were hurt in protests in Afghanistan this week over the issue.
The US has described the incident as abhorrent, and pledged prompt action if the allegations prove to be true.
A number of protest rallies were held in Pakistan on Friday.
'Outraged Muslims'
"Yes, it's abominable the reports that emanated from Guantanamo Bay," Mr Kasuri said during a three day diplomatic tour of Australia.
"It's unthinkable that someone could be so debased, inhuman, depraved as to provoke the feelings of not just those people there (in Guantanamo) but all over the Muslim world.
Protests in Pakistan have been relatively low key
"I have no doubt that the entire Muslim world is outraged. So I urge the United States administration to take very strong action against the culprits."
Mr Kasuri said while the US had "distanced itself" from the allegations, their seriousness required firm action.
He said that was especially the case in the light of similar allegations of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.
Unconditional apology
"In order to send a message, particularly about prison abuses ... I hope this time they take a much stronger action because the indignation and rage is universal."
"Even the worst enemy of the United States could not harm the image of the United States in the Muslim world as effectively as they've done if this is correct," he said.
There were demonstrations over the issue in several Pakistani cities after prayers on Friday, following days of protests and riots in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The US says it will investigate alleged Guantanamo abuses
The protests were organised by the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance which called on the US to issue an unconditional apology or else it would step up its campaign to have the American ambassador expelled form the country.
But the BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says that the protests were relatively small and largely peaceful.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, a leader of an opposition religious coalition, told worshippers at a packed mosque in Islamabad: "By insulting the Koran, they have challenged our belief. "We are hurt ... If we don't rise against Americans, if we don't give them a strong message today, they will do it again."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meanwhile appealed to Muslims to resist calls for violence, and promised that her country was investigating the allegations.
Ms Rice said on Thursday that desecration was abhorrent and disrespect for the Koran would not be tolerated.
The outrage in Afghanistan and Pakistan followed reports in Newsweek magazine that interrogators at the US Guantanamo Bay prison had flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet.
Insulting the Koran or the Prophet Muhammad is regarded as blasphemy and punishable by death in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The US is holding about 520 inmates at Guantanamo Bay, many of them al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US and subsequent US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
muslims acknowledge it.
the irish thing has been over for a decade.
that was a quote from the title of the article.
and no I am not pissed off.
all terrorists are muslims.
if you want to make exceptions for kliebold and harris, or random acts by other 'almost' terrorists, so be it.
I don't.
you do.
the worlds ONLY terrorist problems, are islamics.
any other groups are not worth mentioning.
For that matter you could n. korea could be called terrorist, the tamil tigers, the khmer rouge.
but today in OUR world at THIS time ALL terrorist threats are decidedly NOT irish, not militia, not columbian drug runners... they are islam, islam and islam.
the filthiest most accursed religion on the face of the earth.
"the worlds ONLY terrorist problems, are islamics.
any other groups are not worth mentioning."
So, what you mean is that all the worlds terrorists that you are personally concerned about are muslims?
and that is THEIR opinion of themselves as well... according to the article linked above... by one of their own, which has been discussed extensively here since its publication.
that does not mean there cannot arise another threat.
just that all the current, 'blow up the bus' threats, and 'cut off his head' threats, are by organized muslim groups.
and pretty much them only.
kim jong is a terrorist.
I suppose you could say that HE is proof that some terrorists are not muslims. But with him we have a STATE that is threatening war... hardly the same as a nailbelt bombing society of ragheads.
But honestly... we all KNOW exactly what that article title meant, and what I meant by saying it to begin with.
of the top 20-25 hot spots on this planet.
My guess is that fully 19-23 are directly related to islam.
And I am very very hard pressed to find ANY conflict where they are not in proximal cause or root thereof.
Irish are not nearly active in terrorist acts these days, and have been pretty calmed down, for the past decade.
Muslims are erupting like infected, puss filled sores all over the planet. NO OTHER GROUP is so violent, nor of much concern to the nations of the west.
The world's terror problem by nature is Islamic and Islamic alone.
Or better yet, the Saudi-Pakistani Torah policy.
Touche!
Notice that the atrocities of 9/11 have never outraged them!
Never mind, I'm off to work on some "art" (I hear that's what they're calling it nowadays) involving a naked MuhamMAD, a pack of dogs, a couple of pigs, and maple syrup... I'll make sure I mail a few copies of it to Mecca and tell them my Imam swears it was the work of a crazy Frenchman.
There, that should take care of two birds with one stone.
Countdown to Jihad in 5...4...3...
Y'know, I knew that and realized that was the gist of your point only after I sent my last post last night. Guess I'm remembering too much from the past.
In terms of TODAY, I can't think of a non-muslim terrorist organization in existence.
I appreciate your kind reply.
I actually figured that much after several years of reading your comments... I sometims, wish there were an 'undo' button on that final posting thing...
heh heh
Wow, flushing Bibles must be all the rage at the Juvie Detention Center.
No prob!
C'mon...is that all you guys got??? where's yer spunk? (Must be too early in the mornin' fer all you rednecks, huh?) ...oh, and yes, flushing any kind of text down the toilet is fun. Being a Destructionist myself, I revel in destroying EVERYTHING. ...heh, heh, heh! ; )
Goodbye! FU2
LOL! A deep thinker is among us. Welcome your lordship to FR.
Here is a ZOT for all your efforts.
Wow no coffee yet right?
Dear Newsweek,
Thank you for the article on the US interrogators defiling the Koran. Frankly, this is such a heinous act to muslims, that we never would have thought of it for its propaganda uses. It was a truely inspired article that is guarenteed to inflame hatred for the US and American troops, as well as helping to recruit hundreds, if not thousands of simple-minded, but hateful muslims into the jihad.
We want to thank your for continuing the long history of the American media's support for the enemies of your nation. Simply put, we couldn't have thought up a better way to generate ill-will against your country's interests, but with your help, we will certainly promote it. We can only hope that it will result in the deaths of thousands of American troops, and allah willing, millions of your civilians when a biological or nuclear weapon is unleashed in a major city in your homeland.
But untill then, we'll just have to be satisfied with killing as many soldiers and civilian contractors as we can.
Thanks again!
Al Jezeera
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