Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged the United States today to prosecute and punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Koran as anti-US protests flared for a fifth day.
Sixteen Afghans have been killed and more than 100 hurt since Wednesday in the worst anti-US protests across Afghanistan since US forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
Newsweekmagazine said in its May 9th edition investigators probing abuses at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed Korans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet".
Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.
"If proven that this happened, then we will strongly ask the American government to put on trial and punish whoever is the culprit," Mr Karzai told a news conference.
The United States has tried to calm global Muslim outrage over the incident, saying disrespect for the Koran was abhorrent and would not be tolerated, and military authorities were investigating the allegation.
International Muslim groups in Saudi Arabia also called on the United States to investigate and punish those responsible.
The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference said the report had enraged hundreds of millions of Muslims and would "provide fanatics and extremists with excuses to ... justify their acts of violence and terrorism".
Protests erupted in several parts of Afghanistan again today but apart from some stone-throwing, there was no violence, officials said.
The protests began in the conservative eastern city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. Violence erupted on Wednesday when four protesters were killed. Clashes occurred in different places on Thursday and Friday.
Afghan analysts have said Muslim outrage over the desecration report sparked the protests, not hatred of the United States, but there is growing resentment of US troops, especially in ethnic Pashtun areas of the south and east where they mainly operate.
The United States commands a foreign force in Afghanistan of about 18,300, most of them American, fighting Taliban insurgents and hunting militant leaders, including bin Laden.