KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's government said Tuesday that Newsweek should be held responsible for damages caused by deadly anti-American demonstrations after the magazine alleged U.S. desecration of the Quran, and it suggested that foreign forces may have helped turn protests violent. | Gee, wonder whose foreign forces they're talking about? |
Pakistan joined the international criticism of the magazine's article and said Newsweek's apology and retraction were "not enough." | I agree. How about a fatwa on Newsweek? |
The article, published in Newsweek's May 9 edition, said U.S. investigators found evidence that interrogators at the military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, put copies of Islam's holy book in washrooms and flushed one book down the toilet to try to get inmates to talk. The article sparked protests in several other Muslim countries.
Afghan presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said Newsweek's retraction Monday was a "positive step" toward clearing up concern about the report. "But at the same time, we feel angered at the way this story has been handled," Ludin told a news conference Tuesday. "It's only fair to say at this stage that Newsweek can be held responsible for the damages caused by their story." | Works for me, Newsweak lied, Afghans died. |
Following the article, violent anti-American demonstrations erupted in several Afghan cities, and about 15 people were killed in clashes with security forces. A string of government and relief organization offices were ransacked before police and troops restored order.
Ludin said the government suspected that "elements from within and outside Afghanistan" had helped turn peaceful protests violent. | I think he's talking about the neighbors |
More than 500 inmates at Guantanamo were captured during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the hardline Islamic Taliban regime and end al-Qaida's influence over the deeply religious country.
Afghans' strong feelings about Guantanamo "also provided a reason for the enemies of Afghanistan and for those who are keen to cause destruction in Afghanistan to ... cause the riots," Ludin said. Col. Gary Cheek, commander of U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, said Monday he knew of no sign that Taliban-led militants had provoked trouble. But Ludin said the Afghan government found evidence of a "foreign hand" in the eastern city of Jalalabad, where the worst violence occurred. He claimed students in the city, close to the Pakistani border, had returned in disgust to their campus after their protest turned ugly.
Ludin would not say whether Pakistan, which lost influence in Afghanistan with the fall of the Taliban and has sparred repeatedly with Kabul over the ability of militants to shelter on its territory, was suspected of fomenting the violence.
"We're still investigating and trying to collect more information," he said. "Then we'll be ready to discuss the related people and organizations." He added, "The president believes this is a reaction to that."
Pakistani officials also expressed anger that the magazine got its story wrong.
"Just an apology is not enough. They should think 101 times before publishing news that hurts hearts," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said in Islamabad.
In Saudi Arabia, the country's top religious authority Tuesday condemned the alleged desecration and urged an investigation into the report. Grand Mufti Adul-Aziz al-Sheik issued his statement a day after Newsweek retracted its report, saying a full inquiry still should be launched "to alleviate the sorrow that befell Muslims." "We condemn and denounce this criminal act against Muslims' most sacred item," al-Sheik said. | Explosives come in a close second |
Saudi Arabia is a sometimes close U.S. ally that considers itself the true ruler protector of Islam and the rest of the world in time its holiest sites. |