- The ICRC has said the US was aware of reports that its
officials had showed disrespect towards Islam's holy book at the Guantanamo
Bay detention centre.
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- The comments come days after US weekly Newsweek retracted
a report about desecration of the Koran at the centre.
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- The ICRC gave no details of the nature of the disrespectful
incidents it said it reported "multiple times" to the US.
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- The Pentagon confirmed that the ICRC had approached "on
rare occasion" with allegations from detainees.
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- Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said log entries from
Guantanamo had included incidents such as a Koran falling to the floor
by accident.
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- Washington has endeavoured to quell anger in the Muslim
world after the publication of Newsweek's article, which sparked violent
protests. It said "lasting damage" had been done to its image.
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- At least 15 people were killed in anti-US riots on Afghanistan.
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- Riots
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- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it
had reported the allegations in confidence to Pentagon officials many times
in 2002 and 2003.
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- ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno said he believed the US
had acted on the information.
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- "The US government took corrective measures and
those allegations have not resurfaced," Mr Schorno said.
-
- On Monday, Newsweek said its report that interrogators
at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet was based
on flawed sources.
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- As well as the deaths in Afghanistan, more than 100 people
were injured in violent protests across the Muslim world, from Pakistan
to Indonesia, following the initial publication.
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- Insulting the Koran or the Prophet Muhammad is regarded
as blasphemy and punishable by death in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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- The White House said it was now Newsweek's obligation
to help reverse the effects of its report.
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- Newsweek's original story claimed that a military investigation
was set to reveal evidence of desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo.
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- It followed repeated allegations by former prisoners
at the camp in Cuba that interrogators had prevented them from worshipping
or had sought ways to insult their faith.
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- But on 16 May, the magazine said the investigation in
question had not looked at the desecration charges, and that its sources
had also backed away from the story.
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4564405.stm
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