"Even Saddam did not behave in this manner," said angry Iraqis

Additional Reporting By Subhy Hadad, IOl Correspondent

BAGHDAD, October 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Scores of angry Iraqi employees broke out in rage Tuesday, October 21, after a U.S. soldier hurled a copy of the holy Qur'an to the ground.

The U.S. desecration started after a veiled Iraqi woman refused to let U.S. occupation soldiers use a sniff dog to search her bag because it contained a copy of the Qur'an, furious demonstrators told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Amal Karim asked them not to let the dog touch her bag because there was a Qur'an inside," oil ministry employee Zainab Assem Assem told AFP, adding a U.S. soldier threw the copy to the ground.

"Amal started shouting: 'Can you (Iraqis) let American soldiers desecrate our holy Qur'an?' And the crowd was steaming with anger," she added.

The demonstrators demanded that U.S. troops leave and be replaced by Iraqi police.

"We will demonstrate every morning until the soldiers leave the entrance to the ministry," said Mohammad Assem, adding that U.S. soldiers fired shots in the air to disperse the irked crowd.

"Even Saddam did not behave in this manner," said Jassem in reference to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. "Their attitude is unacceptable," he said.

Iraqi traditions also refuse the inspection of women by men or touching their bodies or clothes by dogs, whether they were police or ordinary dogs.

Muslims consider dogs to be an unclean animal, and the use of dogs in searches has caused numerous incidents in Iraq.

According to Islamic teachings, people are not allowed to keep a dog at home for a purpose other than hunting or guarding the house (watch dogs).

In June, an angry Iraqi crowd killed six British soldiers who were using dogs in searches in Amara, 365 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

Two months ago, the U.S. army decided to scale down its raids on Iraqis and house-to-house searches, admitting that this "iron-fisted" approach has proved counterproductive and alienated the people of Iraq.

Shiites Arrests

Elsewhere in Iraq , Iraqi police, backed by U.S. occupation soldiers, detained overnight several supporters of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, including Sheikh Khalid Khadomi, the head of the religious leader's offices in Karbala.

Sadr's followers ere in a mosque when the round-ups took place, AFP quoted an occupation source as saying.

Iraqi police aboard U.S. helicopters "came at 3:00 am (0000 GMT) and arrested Sadr followers including the chief of Sadr's office in  Karbala at the same time at his home," said an assistant to the young Shiite leader.

Iraqi police and a recently formed force to protect Karbala 's religious shrines, backed by U.S. troops, "located criminals in a mosque in Karbala," claimed spokesman Captain Ivan Morgan.

"They issued a final statement for the criminals to leave the mosque," he said, adding that the men surrendered peacefully at about midnight.

"We know they are part of criminal groups but we cannot confirm they are related with Sadr. We won't be sure until investigations are completed," Morgan told AFP.

U.S. officials say they are keeping a close eye on the anti-U.S. firebrand Sadr, who had proposed a shadow cabinet to rival the U.S.-installed Governing Council.

Anti-U.S. fervor surged in the Iraqi capital after two Iraqis were killed in a shootout with U.S. troops in Sadr City, which is home for 2.5 million Shiites.