2nd day of very unhappy students in Kabul

international | crime and justice | other press

Thursday May 12, 2005 12:57

by io

Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan.
the USA have over 16,000 troops there, under two commands, (one looks for Osama and the other is part of a build Afghani identity force) but the stability and contra-narcotraffic operations of the World community are in the hands of the ISAF force, and the majority are €uropean.

Young people are very upset, there because they are muslim, and reports have reached them that US interrogators on an island off of Cuba, have desecrated a Koran. US interrogators are not muslim. Cuba isn't muslim either. This is thus a story of Globalisation.

not everyone's cup of tea.

So far today-
"Students in the Afghan capital shouted "Death to America" and burned an American flag on Thursday in a protest over a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran.

Several hundred students gathered in front of Kabul University, a day after a similar protest in an eastern city degenerated into rioting and four people were killed and dozens wounded.

Newsweek magazine said in a recent edition that investigators probing abuses at the U.S. military prison in Cuba had found interrogators "had placed Korans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet".

Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

The U.S. military says the report is being investigated.

"We've heard from all the radio and newspapers, and also we've read on Internet sites, that the holy Koran has been insulted by American soldiers," said Kabul University student Manan Shiewa.

"The people who have done this action should be punished ... We are ready to continue our strong demonstrations in all universities in Afghanistan."

Police watched the protest from a distance but made no attempt to break it up. No foreign troops were in the vicinity.

The protest ended after about two hours with no violence or arrests.

The United States commands a foreign force in Afghanistan of about 18,300, most of them American, fighting Taliban insurgents and hunting Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities."

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5776912&cKey=1115886017000

Yesterday 4 deaths-
"Afghan police opened fire on protesters on Wednesday killing four and wounding dozens after violent demonstrations over a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran.

U.S. forces in the conservative Muslim city of Jalalabad, 130 km east of the capital Kabul, were called back to base when the trouble began and left Afghan authorities to handle it, at their request, a U.S. spokeswoman said.

Government offices were set on fire, shops looted and U.N. buildings and diplomatic missions attacked as thousands of people took to the streets chanting "Death to America".

Police fired several times to disperse crowds. Four people had been killed and 52 wounded, provincial health chief Fazel Mohammad Ibrahimi said, citing information from city hospitals. State television said four people were dead and 40 wounded."

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5772639&cKey=1115845519000

The president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, was almost voted the best dressed global politician by readers of Esquire magazine, but lost to rapper Andre 3000 of Outkast in the 2004 competition-
http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=3407

Afghanistan on the Web-

with the slogan "Afghanistan: The Friendliest Country in the World, Possibly the Universe."
http://www.afghan-web.com/index.html

with no slogan-
http://afghanistannews.net/

with the helpful introductory paragraph "When you think Afghanistan Imagine: Where 20 years of war has totally crippled the economy, and you must try to somehow survive day-by-day by scrounging enough food to feed your children. Where people do not have the facilities to receive an education. Where people do not have the facilities to receive treatment at hospitals. Where, on average, men die at 40 years of age and women at 43. Where hundreds of thousands of people are maimed, disabled, or blind because of war and land mines. Where you face a high chance of becoming blind or crippled because of the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, causing vitamin deficiency. If you are blind or crippled, no one can help you because those that are not blind or crippled need help as well."
http://www.afghanistans.com/