By IINA,
Baghdad : A US military official sparks Muslim fury after using the Holy Quran for target practice during sniper training sessions in Baghdad. The incident came to light on May 11 when Iraqi officials found a bullet-riddled copy of the holy Quran in a US police station shooting range in Baghdad’s western outskirts. Iraqi community leaders have condemned the US military’s belated acknowledgment of the unacceptable ‘criminal act’, prompting American Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond to apologize for the incident.
“I come before you here seeking your forgiveness, in the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers,” said Hammond amid howls of protest against what they called blatant ‘aggression toward the entire Islamic world’. US Spokesman Colonel Bill Buckner said the guilty staff sergeant had been sent back home, but refrained from elaborating on his future disciplinary charges. The discovery of the defaced Quran has thrown the spotlight on the Bush administration, exposing their flagrant disregard for Islamic values.