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<DIV><FONT size=4>05-15-05 CNN</FONT></DIV>
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<H1>Clerics threaten holy war over alleged Quran desecrations</H1>
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<FONT size=2>Sunday, May 15, 2005 Posted: 7:33 AM EDT (1133 GMT)
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Pictures: <A
href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/15/afghan.protests.reut/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/15/afghan.protests.reut/index.html</A></FONT></DIV>
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<P><B style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A group of
Afghan Muslim clerics have threatened to call for a holy war against the United
States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to
have desecrated the Quran.</B></P>
<P>The warning on Sunday came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100
hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S.
forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and
his al Qaeda network.</P>
<P>The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted U.S.
President George W. Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits
over to an Islamic country for punishment."</P>
<P>"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against
America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, referring to Muslim holy
war, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.</P>
<P>The statement was read out by Abdul Fatah Fayeq, the top judicial official in
the mountainous, conservative province near the borders of Tajikistan and
China.</P>
<P>Muslim clerics have traditionally been teachers and leaders in Afghan society
and throughout its history they have rallied public opinion and sometimes led
uprisings against unpopular rulers and foreign occupiers.</P>
<P>Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at
the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed
Qurans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the
toilet."</P>
<P>Muslims consider the Quran the literal word of God and treat each book with
deep reverence.</P>
<P>The United States has tried to calm global Muslim outrage over the incident,
saying disrespect for the Quran was abhorrent and would not be tolerated, and
military authorities were investigating the allegation.</P><A name=1></A><A
name=rv1></A>
<H3>Growing protests</H3>
<P>Another group of clerics in the north demanded punishment for those
responsible for desecrating the Quran but did not call for holy war, the
governor of Kunduz province said.</P>
<P>The protests began in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. Violence
broke out there on Wednesday and there were clashes in several other places on
Thursday and Friday.</P>
<P>Scattered protests on Saturday were mostly peaceful, while on Sunday no
demonstrations were reported.</P>
<P>While some Afghan analysts say Muslim rage over the desecration report
sparked the protests, not hatred of America, there is growing resentment of U.S.
troops, especially in southeastern areas where they are most active.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>President Hamid Karzai, a staunch U.S. ally, has urged the United States to
punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Quran. He said foreign hands were
behind the disturbances, but did not identify them.</P>
<P>The anti-U.S. protesters have also criticized Karzai and his U.S.-backed
government, attacking and torching provincial offices and police stations as
well as U.N. and aid agency compounds.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>