Thousands protest against U.S. over Koran incident

Thousands protest against U.S. over Koran incident

Agencies, Jakarta

Thousands of Muslim activists staged a rally outside the United
States Embassy in Jakarta on Sunday, condemning the alleged
desecration of Islam's holy book Koran by interrogators at the
U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Despite the U.S.-based Newsweek magazine's retraction of its
report and apology, it failed to mollify outraged Muslim
activists in Indonesia.

Witnesses estimated that around 10,000 activists from dozens
of Muslim groups, including hard-line organizations, including
the Islam Defender Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Mujahidin
Council (MMI), as well as several Islamic-based political
parties, demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.

Police estimated the crowd at 7,000 protesters.

It was the biggest anti-U.S. protest in Indonesia in recent
months.

The protesters unfurled banners denouncing what they called
U.S. arrogance. One read: "Chase U.S. imperialism out of Muslim
countries."

Newsweek said in its initial report two weeks ago that U.S.
interrogators at Guantanamo detention center desecrated the Koran
by placing a copy of it into a toilet.

On May 16, the magazine retracted the story after its source
developed doubts, and the Pentagon has said its own investigation
has found no evidence to support the allegation that Korans were
defiled at the off-shore U.S. prison.

Wearing mostly white, with the women veiled, the protesters
carried placards reading: "Rid Islamic countries of U.S.
imperialism" and "The desecration at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib
cannot be tolerated."

The protesters demanded that President George W. Bush stop
insulting Muslims and immediately close down the Guantanamo
detention center as well as other prisons, including Abu Ghraib
in Baghdad.

They also called on the United States to immediately pull out
from Iraq, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.

The demonstrators warned that Muslims worldwide would take
revenge for what U.S. servicemen had done.

"We will continue to press the U.S. government to stop
desecrating the Holy Koran and Muslims," said Syaifullah of
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a hard-line group.

"Destroy America and its allies! Kill those who desecrate
Islam!" Muhammad Iqbal alias Abu Jibril, from the MMI, screamed
at the protesters through a public address system.

Jibril, a fiery speaker at the rally, was detained for almost
three years in Malaysia under the country's tough Internal
Security Act on suspicion of involvement in terrorism and links
to a militant group, Mujahidin Malaysia. He was deported to
Indonesia in May last year and sentenced to five and a half
months' jail for an immigration offense.

He represented MMI at the rally, which is an umbrella
organization seeking Islamic sharia law. It is headed by Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir, who was sentenced in March to 30 months jail for
his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the Bali
bombings.

Judges cleared Ba'asyir of more serious charges of planning
terrorist attacks.

A number of Indonesian Muslim leaders have previously
condemned the reported Guantanamo incident, arguing that any such
desecration would be intolerable and abominable.

Muslims around the world have demonstrated in recent days
against alleged abuse of the Muslim holy book. The unrest left at
least 14 people dead in Afghanistan.