U.S. soldier in Iraq uses Koran for target practice
Sun May 18 16:08:04 UTC 2008
By Khaled al-Ansary
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. military commanders have apologized to
community leaders in Iraq after a U.S. soldier used a copy of the
Koran for shooting practice, fearing an outburst of anger among U.S.-
allied tribesmen.
Bloody protests have sometimes broken out across the Muslim world when
the Islamic faith has been insulted. The swift apology by the U.S.
commanders appeared aimed at avoiding similar violence in Iraq.
The U.S. military said on Sunday the soldier, who was not identified,
had been disciplined and ordered to leave Iraq after a copy of the
Muslim holy book was found riddled with bullet holes at a shooting
range near Baghdad on May 11.
Pictures obtained by Reuters showed the holy book with at least 10
bullet holes.
The incident is deeply embarrassing for the U.S. military, which has
been working hard to forge alliances with Sunni Arab tribes to fight
al Qaeda in Iraq. It has credited such alliances with helping to
sharply reduce violence in the country.
An Iraqi community leader told Reuters the apology by senior American
military commanders had helped calm tensions.
"I was feeling bitterness, but as long as they apologized we are OK
with them. Our anger has cooled," said Saeed al-Zubaie, head of a U.S.-
allied Sunni Arab tribal council in the Radwaniya area near Baghdad
where the Koran was found.
He said Sunni Arab tribal units who work alongside U.S. forces in the
area had threatened to quit unless the military took action.
The U.S. television news network CNN said Major-General Jeffery
Hammond, the commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, and other officers
were met by hundreds of protesters when they went to Radwaniya to
deliver the apology on Saturday.
"I am a man of honor, I am a man of character. You have my word this
will never happen again," Hammond told the crowd, CNN reported.
Colonel Bill Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman, described the
shooting incident as "serious and deeply troubling".
The U.S. military relies heavily on Sunni Arab tribes as part of its
strategy to crush al Qaeda, the Sunni Islamist group it blames for
most major suicide bombings in Iraq.
BUSH PRAISES IRAQI LEADERS
The Iraqi military said an offensive against al Qaeda in its last
urban stronghold in the northern city of Mosul had forced some
militants to flee into the surrounding Nineveh province and across the
porous border Iraq shares with Syria.
"They're trying to escape because they do not have the ability to
confront us," Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said on
Sunday.
Previous U.S. and Iraqi offensives against al Qaeda have failed to
deal a knockout blow to the group, with its militants preferring to
escape to fight another day rather than battling troops backed by
armor and warplanes.
U.S. President George W. Bush met several Iraqi political leaders on
Sunday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Egyptian
resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and praised their efforts to improve security.
"I told them I'm impressed by the progress that is taking place,
security progress," Bush said. "We also talked about the fact that
more work needs to be done, there's still problems."
Washington views provincial elections due later this year as key to
fostering national reconciliation by boosting the participation of
minority Sunni Arabs in politics.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Sunday that Iraq would hold
the polls across different days for security reasons and to prevent
voter-rigging.
"The government is resolved to provide the appropriate atmosphere to
hold the elections in a proper way and to guarantee neutrality, away
from anyone's interference," he said in a statement.
The polls are due to be held on October 1, but it was not immediately
clear if that would remain the first day of voting.
Political analysts say the elections will be the battleground for a
fierce power struggle -- especially among majority Shi'ites -- that
could redraw Iraq's political map.
(Additional reporting by Dean Yates; Writing by Tim Cocks: Editing by
Ross Colvin and Richard Balmforth)
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