L.A. Muslims Ask Probe of Alleged Desecration

Outraged over the alleged desecration of their most holy book, some Los Angeles Muslims are calling for an international investigation into reports that U.S. military interrogators had flushed a Koran down a toilet to unsettle prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“This is an outrageous, irresponsible and brutal act against everything Muslims hold holy,” Maher Hathout, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Southern California, said before hundreds of Muslims who attended Friday prayers at the Vermont Avenue mosque.

The alleged desecration, recently reported by Newsweek magazine, has sparked violent protests and anti-American demonstrations throughout the Muslim world.

This week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called such disrespect “abhorrent,” and said the Pentagon was fully investigating the reports. She vowed to take appropriate action against any perpetrators.

But Hathout said that many Muslims feared that a “code of silence” in the military would stymie a full investigation.

Hathout also said the Islamic center and the Muslim Public Affairs Council had launched a petition drive calling for an international investigation into the reports.