Post by maruf on May 12, 2005 12:02:43 GMT -5
Three More Anti-U.S. Protesters Killed in Clashes With Afghan Police, Officials Say
abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=751084
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
The Associated Press
May. 12, 2005 - Police clashed with anti-U.S. demonstrators in two Afghan towns, killing at least three people, and Afghan students burned an American flag in Kabul on Thursday as protests spread over reported abuse of Islam's holy book at the U.S. jail in Guantanamo Bay.
The unrest came a day after riots in the eastern city of Jalalabad left four people dead the worst anti-American protests in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
While most of the protesters appeared to be students, officials have suggested that elements opposed to the country's U.S.-backed re-emergence were stirring the violence, which also has targeted the United Nations and American troops.
"It's the symbols of this change in Afghanistan that have been singled out," said Paul Barker, director of CARE International, one of the largest international relief groups in Afghanistan. "There are probably people around the country inciting this."
Police fired on hundreds of anti-U.S. demonstrators Thursday in the town of Khogyani to prevent them from departing toward Jalalabad, about 20 miles to the north, local police chief Maj. Gul Wali said.
Wali said three of the protesters died and one was injured. He claimed many at the gathering were armed.
However, Interior Ministry spokesman Latufallah Mashal said only two people died in Khogyani, while a third protester died in a separate clash with police in Wardak province, south of Kabul. The discrepancy couldn't immediately be reconciled.
In Kabul, more than 200 young men marched from a dormitory block near Kabul University chanting "Death to America!" and carrying banners including one stating: "Those who insult the Quran should be brought to justice."
At the entrance to the university, a man with a clipped beard and spectacles read a resolution calling on President Bush to apologize and opposing long-term U.S. military bases in Afghanistan.
About two dozen students clambered onto the roof of a nearby building and burned an American flag to applause and cries of "God is great!" from the crowd below. Dozens of police some armed with sticks, others with assault rifles looked on.
Ahmad Shah, a political sciences undergraduate, said the students decided to protest after hearing of the deaths in Jalalabad on Wednesday.
"America is our enemy and we don't want them in Afghanistan," Shah said as the students ended their protest and returned to classes later Thursday. "When they insult our holy book they have insulted us."
Police said 150 students staged a similar brief demonstration at another high school in the city, but reported no violence.
The source of anger was a brief report in the May 9 edition of Newsweek magazine that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, placed Qurans on toilets in order to rattle suspects, and in at least one case "flushed a holy book down the toilet."
Many of the 520 inmates in Guantanamo are Pakistanis and Afghans captured after the Sept. 11 attacks. Despite both governments' support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, suspicion lingers in the conservative Muslim nations about the American military.
Growing urban unrest could pose another security challenge for the U.S.-backed Afghan government, which is already battling a reinvigorated Taliban insurgency. About 18,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, fighting rebels and searching for Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden.
Barker said a group of high school students also assailed the CARE office early Thursday morning in the neighboring Logar province, beating one staff member and destroying equipment. The office of another foreign relief group next door was set on fire, he said.
Protesters also broke the windows of the district mayor's office and that unidentified men had destroyed a nearby mobile phone mast during the night with rockets, Logar Gov. Amanullah Hamimi said.
Peaceful demonstrations have been reported in at least five other Afghan provinces.
At least one protest also occurred Thursday in northwestern Pakistan, but it passed off peacefully. Hard-line Islamic parties have called for demonstrations across the country on Friday.
The Pakistani government said at the weekend it was "deeply dismayed" over the Newsweek report, which Pentagon and White House officials said would be investigated.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is on a visit to Europe and travels to Washington later this month to seek long-term American military and economic aid, has called repeatedly for all the Afghan prisoners to be sent home.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=751084
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
The Associated Press
May. 12, 2005 - Police clashed with anti-U.S. demonstrators in two Afghan towns, killing at least three people, and Afghan students burned an American flag in Kabul on Thursday as protests spread over reported abuse of Islam's holy book at the U.S. jail in Guantanamo Bay.
The unrest came a day after riots in the eastern city of Jalalabad left four people dead the worst anti-American protests in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
While most of the protesters appeared to be students, officials have suggested that elements opposed to the country's U.S.-backed re-emergence were stirring the violence, which also has targeted the United Nations and American troops.
"It's the symbols of this change in Afghanistan that have been singled out," said Paul Barker, director of CARE International, one of the largest international relief groups in Afghanistan. "There are probably people around the country inciting this."
Police fired on hundreds of anti-U.S. demonstrators Thursday in the town of Khogyani to prevent them from departing toward Jalalabad, about 20 miles to the north, local police chief Maj. Gul Wali said.
Wali said three of the protesters died and one was injured. He claimed many at the gathering were armed.
However, Interior Ministry spokesman Latufallah Mashal said only two people died in Khogyani, while a third protester died in a separate clash with police in Wardak province, south of Kabul. The discrepancy couldn't immediately be reconciled.
In Kabul, more than 200 young men marched from a dormitory block near Kabul University chanting "Death to America!" and carrying banners including one stating: "Those who insult the Quran should be brought to justice."
At the entrance to the university, a man with a clipped beard and spectacles read a resolution calling on President Bush to apologize and opposing long-term U.S. military bases in Afghanistan.
About two dozen students clambered onto the roof of a nearby building and burned an American flag to applause and cries of "God is great!" from the crowd below. Dozens of police some armed with sticks, others with assault rifles looked on.
Ahmad Shah, a political sciences undergraduate, said the students decided to protest after hearing of the deaths in Jalalabad on Wednesday.
"America is our enemy and we don't want them in Afghanistan," Shah said as the students ended their protest and returned to classes later Thursday. "When they insult our holy book they have insulted us."
Police said 150 students staged a similar brief demonstration at another high school in the city, but reported no violence.
The source of anger was a brief report in the May 9 edition of Newsweek magazine that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, placed Qurans on toilets in order to rattle suspects, and in at least one case "flushed a holy book down the toilet."
Many of the 520 inmates in Guantanamo are Pakistanis and Afghans captured after the Sept. 11 attacks. Despite both governments' support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, suspicion lingers in the conservative Muslim nations about the American military.
Growing urban unrest could pose another security challenge for the U.S.-backed Afghan government, which is already battling a reinvigorated Taliban insurgency. About 18,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, fighting rebels and searching for Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden.
Barker said a group of high school students also assailed the CARE office early Thursday morning in the neighboring Logar province, beating one staff member and destroying equipment. The office of another foreign relief group next door was set on fire, he said.
Protesters also broke the windows of the district mayor's office and that unidentified men had destroyed a nearby mobile phone mast during the night with rockets, Logar Gov. Amanullah Hamimi said.
Peaceful demonstrations have been reported in at least five other Afghan provinces.
At least one protest also occurred Thursday in northwestern Pakistan, but it passed off peacefully. Hard-line Islamic parties have called for demonstrations across the country on Friday.
The Pakistani government said at the weekend it was "deeply dismayed" over the Newsweek report, which Pentagon and White House officials said would be investigated.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is on a visit to Europe and travels to Washington later this month to seek long-term American military and economic aid, has called repeatedly for all the Afghan prisoners to be sent home.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
