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Bush apologises to Maliki over desecration

BAGHDAD: U.S. President George W. Bush apologised to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an American sniper’s use of a copy of the Koran for target practice, said a statement on Tuesday.

Mr. Al-Maliki’s office said Mr. Bush offered the apology in a telephone call on Monday. Mr. Al-Maliki told Mr. Bush of the “disappointment and anger of the people and government of Iraq over the soldier’s disgraceful action.” Mr. Bush said the sniper would face trial.

Separately, the statement said a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday called for the “severest” punishment against the sniper and warned of “grave consequences” if similarly offensive actions recurred. It also called on commanders of foreign troops to educate their soldiers on the need to respect the religious beliefs of Iraqis.

The U.S. military said on Sunday it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used the Koran for target practice on May 9.

The copy was found two days later on a firing range in Radwaniyah with 14 bullet holes in it and graffiti written in its pages. On Saturday, the top American commander in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, and other officers held a ceremony apologising to tribal chiefs. Earlier, U.S. commanders apologised in meetings with Mr. Al-Maliki, Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi and Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani. — AP

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