US soldier riddles Qur’an with bullets

BAGHDAD - A US soldier has been removed from his unit in Iraq for shooting a Qur’an during target practice, the American military said on Sunday as a top American general apologized for the desecration.
The unidentified soldier was disciplined after Iraqi police discovered the Qur’an, with bullet holes and graffiti inside its cover last week at a firing range west of Baghdad, the US military said.
Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of US forces in Baghdad, met community leaders from Radhwaniya in the capital’s western outskirts and issued a “formal apology,” the CNN network said.
“I come before you here seeking your forgiveness,” Hammond told tribal leaders on Saturday. “In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.” Another military official kissed a copy of Qur’an and presented it to the tribal leaders during an “apology ceremony,” CNN said, adding that the soldier had also apologized.
“I sincerely hope that my actions have not diminished the partnership that our two nations have developed together,” Hammond said, quoting from a letter written by the soldier. “My actions were shortsighted, very reckless and irresponsible, but in my heart (was not) malicious,” the soldier was quoted as saying. Tribal leaders, dignitaries and local security officials attended the ceremony, CNN said.
Colonel Bill Buckner, a US military spokesman, said commanders were ordered to swiftly investigate after Iraqi police found the copy of the Qur’an on May 11 at a firing range in Radwaniya village. He described the incident as “serious and deeply troubling.”
Beside being riddled with bullet holes, graffiti had been scrawled inside the cover. It was not immediately clear if the Qur’an had been used for target practice. “Coalition commanders have undertaken disciplinary action against the soldier who was involved and he has been removed from Iraq.” Besides being shipped out of Iraq, it was not clear what other disciplinary action had been taken against the soldier.
In his statement, Buckner stressed that the US military respected Islam and the Qur’an. – Agencies