US Apologizes for Qur'an Burning

The US military is facing intense criticism in Afghanistan for burning copies of the Qur'an on an American airbase near Bagram. According to US sources, the copies of the Qur'an, along with other Islamic texts, were inadvertently sent for incineration after military officials discovered that prisoners were using them to pass extremist messages to one another. Afghan laborers on the base noticed the burning Qur'ans and tried to recover them. US and NATO officials have issued apologies and stated that steps will be taken to ensure that this sort of thing never happens again, but the incident has no doubt dealt a heavy blow to already strained US-Afghan relations. More...