U.S. fails to cool Afghan fury over Koran burning
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — U.S. helicopters fired flares to disperse hundreds of angry Afghans who massed outside the main U.S. military base in Tuesday after hearing staff there had burned copies of the Koran.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued an apology for “inappropriate treatment” of Islam’s holy book at the base to try to contain fury over the incident — a public relations disaster for Washington as it tries to pacify the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014.
White House spokesman Jay Carney later echoed his remarks, telling a briefing: “We apologize to the Afghan people and disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms.”
Protesters started to gather after Afghan labourers found charred remains of copies of the Koran as they collected rubbish from Bagram Air Base, the provincial governor’s office said.
As many as 2,000 Afghans massed outside several gates to the base, the main centre for NATO-LED forces just north of the capital Kabul, chanting anti-foreigner slogans and throwing stones.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban in Afghanistan condemned the incident, both of them saying the values of Islam had been “degraded.”
Winning the hearts and minds of Afghans is critical to U.S. efforts of defeating the Taliban, but critics say western forces often fail to grasp Afghanistan’s religious and cultural sensitivities.
A senior U.S. official, speak on condition of anonymity, said staff at Bagram had decided to remove “extremist literature” and other materials left in a library in the base’s detention block.
“They [the materials] were taken out of the library for good reason but they were being disposed of in a bad way,” the official said.
“There was a breakdown in judgment in this matter but there was no breakdown in our respect for Islam,” the official added.
NATO’S top general in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, apologized for “actions” at the base and said a new order had been given to all coalition forces in Afghanistan to take part in training in the proper handling of religious materials.
The apologies did little to ease the anger.
“We want them out of our country now,” said Zmari, 30, a protester who has a shop near Bagram.
“We Afghans don’t want these Christians and infidels, they are the enemy of our soil, our honour and our Koran,” said Haji Shirin, one of the protesters at the heavily fortified compound, which is home to 30,000 foreign troops and civilians.
“I urge all Muslims to sacrifice themselves in order to pull out these troops from this soil.”
Karzai’s office condemned the incident and said the president had appointed a delegation of senior clerics to investigate how it occurred.
Protests raged for three days across Afghanistan in April last year after a U.S. pastor burned a Koran in Florida.