U.S. Investigating Koran Desecration Allegations

May 13, 2005 --

Protests Across Muslim World Over Koran Report

Angry protests raged across the Muslim world from Gaza to Indonesia on Friday over a report U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran, with calls for retaliation and a rising death toll. (Reuters)

Desecration Charge To Be Investigated
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has told Aljazeera that a military inquiry will investigate allegations that the Quran was desecrated by US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay. (Al Jazeera)

Tense Confrontation In Uzbek Town

Troops surround 2,000 protesters in the Uzbek city of Andijan, after a mass breakout from its jail. (BBC)

Uzbek Media Clampdown Stifles Unrest News
State TV and radio issued official statements saying the situation in eastern Uzbekistan was under control, as the government blocked foreign news broadcasts in the country. (BBC)

Friends in High Places

In a bid to court Muslim voters, top White House and political figures once met regularly with a Florida professor now accused of leading a terror group. (Newsweek)

Family On Air France Flight Freed

U.S. authorities have released a passenger and his family detained after their transatlantic Air France flight was diverted to Maine Thursday afternoon when the man's name matched one on the U.S. "no-fly" list, federal officials said. (CNN)

Militant Held in Buraidah After Siege

Security forces arrested a suspected militant following a siege in Buraidah in the Qasim area yesterday. (Arab News)

Ethiopia: al-Qaida Operating in Somalia

Ethiopian Prime Minister Warns of 'Very Active' al-Qaida Terror Cell in Somalia. (AP)

Iran Leaves Door Open For Nuclear Discussions

Confronted with significant international pressure, Iran signals it is prepared to give negotiations a try before making a final decision about resuming its nuclear program. (Washington Post)

Cuba Wants 'Terrorist Suspect' Returned From US

White House appears unsure of how to deal with man accused of masterminding Cuba's '9/11'. (CS Monitor)

US Hawks Put Annan's Job On The Line

Annan is fighting for job in the face of an increasing campaign of investigations into Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. (The Guardian)

Mullah Krekar To Be Expelled

Controversial mullah Krekar, former leader of Ansar al-Islam, will be expelled from Norway, on the instructions of Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna Solberg. (Aftenposten)

Pakistan's FM Says Top Al Qaeda Leader to Face Trial in Pakistan

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri says a top al-Qaida leader captured last week will face trial in Pakistan first before Islamabad considers handing him over to the United States. (VOA)

German Prosecutors Seek New Trial In Sept. 11 Case

German prosecutors on Thursday demanded a new trial for a Moroccan man acquitted last year of complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, arguing the verdict was flawed. (Reuters)

Netherlands in The Dock Over Bosnia Massacre Bosnian survivors of the Srebrenica massacre go to court to prove illegal conduct by Dutch peacekeeping forces. (The Guardian)

Court-Martial Opens in an Iraqi Abuse Case

Specialist Sabrina Harman is the second soldier to go on trial on charges of taking part in mistreating detainees. (NY Times)

E-Mails Show Detroit Terror Case Was Weak
The Justice Department originally concluded that prosecuting a separate fraud case against a group of Detroit terrorism defendants would be weak and appear ``vindictive,'' but filed the charges anyway after its terrorism case unraveled, agency e-mails show. (AP)

Kuwait Seeks Death for Militants

Kuwait's public prosecution has demanded the death penalty for 20 militants, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, who clashed with police in January, a newspaper reported yesterday. (Arab News)

Lawyer: Former Iraqi Officials To Be Released Soon
The U.S. intends to release 18 Iraqi prisoners, including some of the officials who were on the list of 55 most wanted after the fall of Saddam's regime, Badie Aref Ezzat, the lawyer defending former deputy PM Tarek Aziz said. The former oil minister Amer Mohammed Rashid and his wife scientist Reham Taha who is known as "Dr Germ" will be amongst those released. (Asharq al Awsat)

Allawi's Ministers Accused Of Corruption
At least two former ministers in former Iraqi PM's government face arrest on charges of corruption. (Middle East Online)

Body Counts
The Pentagon secretly keeps track of many grim statistics in Iraq. The numbers are not encouraging. (Newsweek)

Chalabi May Be Pardoned by Jordan
Jordan is considering a request by Iraq to pardon Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi but would insist on the return of millions of dollars he was convicted of embezzling in a bank scandal, officials said yesterday. (Reuters)

U.S. Presses Iraqi Government to Broaden the Role of Sunnis
The Bush administration is stepping up its appeals to broaden their role in the government or risk driving moderate Sunnis into the arms of insurgents. (NY Times)

A Bigger Threat Than The Bomb
The world can live with Iranian nuclear weapons. But can the US? (The Guardian)

The Toll of a Terrorist
It's been more than a month since a man portrayed in FBI files as a veteran terrorist entered the United States illegally, according to his lawyer. Yet the Bush administration -- which took about two nanoseconds to scramble fighter jets and evacuate half of official Washington the other day over a wayward Cessna -- still hasn't summoned the curiosity to even look for the guy. (The Washington Post)

US and Arabs: Winning Hearts or Psychological Warfare?
The Bush administration's interest, some would say obsession, with the Mideast and the Gulf goes way beyond its stated objectives of ridding the region of regimes antipathetic to the US. According to a four-month investigation, written up by David Kaplan in US News, "Washington is plowing tens of millions of dollars into a campaign to influence" Muslim societies. (Arab News)

Pakistan's Chips in a Shady Game
Let's recap: The Pakistani special forces squad arrested Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's third in command, on March 1, 2003, a few hours before informing the Americans that Pakistan would not back a resolution in favor of the war in Iraq. (LA Times)

Lessons in Humility
Iraq may be dominating the news, but there is still much to be learned from Afghanistan. (Newsweek)

Iraqi Shiite Religiosity Must Prevail Over Ignorant Fanaticism
Since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, the Shiites of Iraq have come to the forefront of debate among Western and Arab intellectuals and politicians. (The Daily Star)

The Good News You Missed
The press has been so focused on the setbacks in Iraq that few readers are likely to know about the daily parade of small triumphs. (NY Times)

Can the United States Win In Iraq
The U.S. armed intervention has sharpened sectarian antagonisms in Iraq, preparing the way for civil war - some would say it was already raging -- or for a de facto dismemberment of the country. (Al Hayat)