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Bush apologizes to Iraq over Qur’an shooting |
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By The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has apologized to Iraq after an American soldier used a copy of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, for target practice. Bush also promised to put the staff sergeant on trial, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said. The incident is reported to have occurred on March 11 in Radhwaniya, near Baghdad, when the unnamed staff sergeant shot into a copy of the Quran and wrote an expletive inside it. U.S. military commanders in Iraq held a ceremony last month to formally apologize and presented a new copy of the Qur’an to tribal leaders in the area where the incident took place.
Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad, also told Iraq’s prime minister and vice-president in separate meetings that the U.S. viewed the matter seriously and that the soldier had been sent home. But Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq’s vice-president and the top Sunni Arab in the government, told Austin that "the feelings of bitterness and anger cannot be eased unless there is a deterrent punishment", according to a statement by al-Hashemi’s office. The incident was earlier strongly condemned by al-Hashemi and the Association of Muslim Scholars, which represents many of Iraq’s mosques. "This heinous crime shows the hatred that the leaders and the members of the occupying force have against the Qur’an and the [Muslim] people," the association said. It added that it held both the U.S. military and Iraqi government responsible for the incident. — The Associated Press
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