Guantanamo probe finds five Koran mishandling cases

WASHINGTON, Friday (Reuters) The U.S. military has identified five incidents of "mishandling of a Koran" by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay, but found no credible evidence that the Muslim holy book had been flushed down a toilet, the commander of the prison said.

Brig. Gen. Jay Hood refused to specify the nature of the mishandling of the Koran at the prison for foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, other than to say it did not involve placing it in a toilet.

An FBI agent quoted a detainee in an August 2002 document made public on Wednesday as saying guards had thrown a Koran in a toilet. Hood said military investigators interviewed that man this month, but did not directly ask him whether he had seen U.S. personnel put a Koran in a toilet.

But Hood told a Pentagon briefing: "I'd like you to know that we have found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Koran down a toilet."

Hood said two U.S. Guantanamo staffers had been disciplined. One was transferred to other duties, Hood said. He did not describe the other case. Giving preliminary findings of a 12-day-old military inquiry into treatment of the Koran at Guantanamo, Hood said investigators turned up 13 allegations of mishandling the Koran, with five confirmed cases of "what could be broadly defined as mishandling of a Koran."

Four U.S. guards and one interrogator were involved in the cases, three of which appeared to be deliberate mishandling and two accidental, Hood said.

Hood also said U.S. military investigators this month interviewed the detainee quoted in the August 2002 document. Hood said this detainee did not mention during the May 14 interview that U.S. personnel had placed a Koran in a toilet. FBI documents also contained accounts of detainees telling FBI agents that U.S. personnel at Guantanamo kicked the Koran or threw it to the floor and beat prisoners. The issue of whether the Koran had been thrown in a toilet at Guantanamo has generated controversy globally in recent weeks.

Meanwhile Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, called on the United States to conduct a full inquiry into allegations the Koran was desecrated in Guantanamo Bay. Musharraf told Christina Rocca, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Pakistanis were "deeply dismayed" by the alleged desecration of the Muslim book at a U.S. military detention centre on Cuba. The U.S. has said the allegations are not credible.

"He (Musharraf) called for a full inquiry to bring to justice the perpetrators of this shameful act," a foreign ministry statement quoted Musharraf as telling Rocca during talks in Islamabad.

"Assistant Secretary Rocca assured the President that the US government was investigating these allegations and those responsible would be held accountable," the ministry's statement said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. side.