Senate team to probe Quran desecration

KABUL by US soldiers, a controversy that sparked angry protests.

Senators, who strongly condemned the alleged burning of copies of the holy book at the Bagram airfield on Monday night, decided to dispatch a team to the main US airbase for an investigation.

In Kabul, hundreds of people, protesting against the desecration, blocked the Kabul-Jalalabad highway on Tuesday, demanding immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from the country and asking the government and the Parliament to launch an investigation.

Elsewhere, a similar protest was staged in front of the Bagram Airbase, with demonstrators setting alight a checkpoint at the airport and calling for the perpetrators to be prosecuted.

Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar told Pajhwok Afghan News they had appointed two members each from religious, cultural, defence and foreign affairs commissions and a member of the administrative board to visit the Bagram Airfield.

The delegation had been asked to submit its report to the next session due on Sunday, he said, adding they had strongly condemned the incident and sought severe punishment for the soldiers involved.

Senator Rafiullah Gul Afghan said they would not allow anyone to insult the sacred book.

“It is not for the first time that foreign troops have desecrated our holy book; they have done this several times in the past, provoking Muslim sentiments,” remarked another senator from Parwan, Mir Hamdiullah Munib.

“If the criminals are not punished, they would repeat such acts in the future,” said Mohammad Daud Hasas.

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