JALALABAD,
Afghanistan, May 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Thousands of Afghans took to the streets Tuesday, May 10, to protest
against US interrogators in the notorious Guantanamo Bay, who
reportedly had desecrated the Noble Qur'an.
US
magazine Newsweek said in a recent edition that US investigators
probing claims of abuses against detainees in the US military prison
in Cuba had discovered that interrogators “had placed copies of the
Noble Qur’an on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a Noble
Book down the toilet”.
Holding
up an effigy of US President George W. Bush and shouting “Death to
Bush”, the protestors called for bringing to justice the
perpetrators of such a grisly act, Reuters reported Tuesday.
“Americans
should apologize for this,” one student at the protest in Jalalabad
city, about 130 km east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, told Reuters.
“Whoever
has done this should be brought to justice and the Afghan government
should condemn it.”
The
angry demonstrators blocked the main road to the Afghan capital but
there were no clashes with police who kept watch from a distance, a
witness told Reuters.
The
United States is holding more than 500 prisoners from its so-called
war on terrorism at the naval base on Cuba. Many of them were detained
in Afghanistan after US-led troops invaded the country and ousted the
Taliban in late 2001.
UN
human rights officials have repeatedly raised concerns about detainees
held in the US military base in Guantanamo Bay as well as abuse in the
US-run Abu Ghraib Jail in Baghdad after the occupation of the oil-rich
Arab country.
There
was no US comment on the Newsweek report on abusing Muslims’ holy
book, whether to deny or confirm it.
Amnesty
International published a report in last April, hitting out at
Washington’s violations of the rights of prisoners held in
Guantanamo and Afghanistan.
In
June, the Human Rights Watch issued a report entitled “The Road To
Abu Ghraib” linking the abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Guantanamo to the policies adopted by Bush in his controversial “war
on terror”.
Amnesty
And
in another development aimed at bringing about national
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The Newsweek reported that US interrogators “had placed copies of the Noble Qur'an on toilets” |
reconciliation
in the war-torn country, Afghanistan’s reconciliation commission
offered an amnesty to wanted former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed
Omar and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Sibghatullah
Mojaddedi, head of the Independent National Commission for Peace in
Afghanistan, said the amnesty would also cover Afghan detainees held
at the US military base at Guantanamo, Agence France Presse (AFP)
said.
“Our
terms are if they (Mullah Omar and Hekmatyrar) lay down their weapons,
respect the constitution and obey the government. We don't have big
conditions for them,” he told a press conference Monday.
“The
issue of Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar, if the government of Afghanistan
has announced it, that was the policy some while ago. The policies
change day by day,” he said.
Asked
if the commission had contacted Omar and Hekmatyar, Mujaddedi said:
“We cannot find their places to get in touch with them. Today we
announced this, let them think about it and give them time.”
Omar
is still wanted by the United States and has a 10 million dollar
bounty on his head for his role in sheltering the Al-Qaeda network and
its leaders in the run-up to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Mujaddedi,
a former mujahideen leader from the anti-Soviet struggle, also said
all Afghan detainees held at the US base at Guantanamo and the Bagram
detention center near Kabul would also be eligible for amnesty.
“The
amnesty covers those in Guantanamo and Bagram detention centers, and
we reached an agreement with our American friends (on this issue),”
he said.
Responding
to the amnesty offer, US military spokesman Col James Yonts said:
“Our position all along has been that those guilty of serious crimes
must be responsible for their actions,” according to the BBC News
Online.
“We
believe the government of Afghanistan understands and supports
that.”
The
Afghan government has been involved in dialogue for several months
with high-ranking leaders of the Taliban, who were pushed from power
by US-backed opposition forces in November 2001.
Clashes
Taliban
forces have stepped up attacks on the Afghan government and the US
troops in recent weeks. In the latest incident, two US marines and 23
fighters were killed in clashes in eastern Afghanistan Monday.
The
deaths occurred after a group of US Marines hunting militants clashed
Sunday with about 25 “rebels” northwest of the eastern city of
Jalalabad, the US military said Monday.
“Two
insurgents were confirmed killed and another 21 suspected dead after a
five-hour gun battle in the Laghman province Sunday,” a US military
statement said.
“US
Air Force A-10 aircraft engaged the insurgents in the cave and a squad
of Marines went afterwards to assess the situation,” the statement
added.
“The
two Marines were killed while clearing the cave area,” it said.
