Thousands of Egyptians, led by members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, burnt US and Israeli flags today in protest against the abuse of the Koran by US military personnel in detention camps.
The protest outside the Lawyers Syndicate in Cairo was also a show of strength by the Brotherhood, more than 900 of whose members are in custody in a crackdown which began in March after the Islamist group began demonstrations for political reform.
The Brotherhood organised a similar demonstration today in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, witnesses said.
The protest in Cairo had an overtly anti-government aspect, based on the perception that the government has not taken a strong position on reports that US troops have kicked, trampled on and mishandled the Muslim holy book.
"Our rulers, why so silent? After the Koran, what's left?" some of the demonstrators chanted.
The preacher in the sermon earlier today said that US troops in Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba had immersed the Koran in dirty water, trodden on it and torn the papers.
The commander of the Guantanamo prison camp said yesterday that the US military has identified five incidents of "mishandling of a Koran" by US personnel there.
But he said they found no credible evidence that a copy had been flushed down a toilet, as some detainees have alleged.