Pakistan Concerns About Guantanamo Allegations

Pakistan Concerns About Guantanamo Allegations

Question: Has the government of Pakistan protested to the United States about the report in this week’s Newsweek magazine alleging that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran during an interrogation?

Answer: The Government of Pakistan has expressed its serious concern to senior officials at our Embassy in Pakistan about these allegations.

All credible allegations of maltreatment or abuse of detainees at Guantanamo are reported and investigated. If these allegations prove to be substantiated, the perpetrators of abuses will be held accountable.

The alleged desecration, if it occurred, would be deplorable and completely out of keeping with our deeply-held values of religious freedom and tolerance. Desecration of the Holy Quran is a reprehensible act that would not be sanctioned by the United States for any purpose.

2005/499 Released on May 10, 2005 Taken Question Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC May 10, 2005 Question Taken at the May 10, 2005 Daily Press Briefing