US should apologise to Muslims for the desecration of the Koran which has only strengthened the hands of fanatics and undermined efforts to build democracy, an Afghan paper said on Saturday.
Sixteen Afghans were killed and about 100 injured since anti-US protests erupted on Wednesday over a Newsweek report that US military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran. Protests spread across Pakistan, Indonesia and Gaza.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and PM Shaukat Aziz expressed “shock over the alleged desecration”. The US has tried to calm Muslim anger, saying authorities were probing the allegation. —Reuters