HOME	Where the World's Views of America Come into Focus

By Foreign Service Correspondent Jean-Luc Allouche

May 14, 2005

Original Article (French)    

Islamabad and Jerusalem: Even before it has been confirmed, the supposed profanation of the Koran on the American base at Guantanamo is causing an outrage in the Arab-Muslim world. It is in Afghanistan that the most violent demonstrations have taken place, the scandal crystallizing the latent discontent of the population since the 2001 American invasion. The demonstrations have been constant since Tuesday and have already left 14 dead, half of them on Friday alone, and about 100 injured. Originally confined to the southeast of the country, the demonstrations have now reached 10 of the 34 provinces.

On Friday, the day of prayer, mullahs fanned the flames, delivering virulently anti-American sermons. At the exits of mosques, very aggressive demonstrations broke out. Four people were killed and about 20 others were injured during confrontations with police in the southern provinces. In the north of the country, three demonstrators were killed and about 20 others injured. After numerous NGOs in Faizabad were sacked and set on fire, foreigners were evacuated. In Kabul, though, about 50 people demonstrated without any incident.

ORGANIZED GROUPS

It is the Pashtun city of Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border, which saw the most violent outbreaks on Wednesday when 10,000 protesters attacked U.N. agencies, NGOs and the Pakistani consulate, which was burned down. On Thursday, 126 foreigners, including 7 French, were evacuated by plane to Kabul. In this province, the protests, originally launched by students, were then taken up by small, well-organized militant groups that reunited for the occasion. The vigorous campaign led this year against poppy plantations has hit small farmers hard and is one of the particularly exacerbated sources of discontent in this region.

In Pakistan, the agitation also erupted after Friday prayers, but there were no significant incidents. The demonstrations mostly took place in the big cities, bringing together only a few hundred people each time, with cries of “Death to America” and slogans hostile to President Musharraf, an ally of the United States in the “war on terrorism.”

The extremist religious party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which had called for demonstrations and demanded that the American ambassador be expelled if Washington didn’t apologize to Muslims, seems to have had little success. In a Peshawar refugee camp, however, more than 6,000 Afghans demonstrated.

Elsewhere in Asia, hundreds of radical Islamists gathered peacefully in a mosque in Jakarta to denounce the “insult by American soldiers, not only to the Holy Koran, but to all Muslims.”

“THE DIRTIEST HANDS”

The biggest demonstrations in the Arab world took place in the Palestinian territories. Nearly 2,000 people demonstrated in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in the north of Gaza, against “the profanation of the Koran by the dirtiest hands, those of the Americans.” Brandishing copies of the holy book and the green flags of Hamas, these demonstrators wanted to express “their anger after the profanation of the Koran by the enemies of God at Guantanamo, as  the Zionist enemy is doing in the occupation prisons,” according to Nizar Rayan, one of the leaders of the Islamist organization. In Hebron, hundreds of the faithful demonstrated after the prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Numerous organizations and governments are agitated at the supposed profanation. In a statement from Beirut, Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite party stressed that “the horrible American act constitutes an attack on the feelings of all Muslims” and called for a “vigorous reaction.” In Iraq, Shiite and Sunni imams have also protested vigorously. In Egypt, the Muslim Brothers have demanded public apologies from Washington.

Several countries have reacted officially. Saudi Arabia has called for a “rapid” investigation. Libya has denounced “irresponsible and immoral acts,” claiming that they were likely to foster terrorism. The Indonesian foreign affairs minister demanded “an investigation,” saying that if these acts turn out to be true, they are “immoral.” This is certainly not going to improve the United States’ already horrible image in the region.

— BBC NEWS VIDEO: Newsweek Says Koran abuse report 'may be wrong', May 16, 00:01:37
— AP NEWS VIDEO: Afghan President Karzai Says Protests Over Koran Whipped Up Ny His Opponents, May 14, 00:01:09