Investigations target Koran burning

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KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Afghan and U.S. authorities have opened both separate and joint investigations into the Koran-burning at Bagram Air Force Base, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. military investigation, the first step in the Army legal process, is the only one that could result in punishment for anyone found at fault, The New York Times reported. The AR15-6, the military code for the investigation, was opened Feb. 21 by Gen. John Allen, the head of the NATO mission.

The discovery of partially burned Korans at Bagram set off days of rioting. At least 30 Afghans died and four U.S. military personnel were killed in what may have been reprisal attacks.

The other investigations include one involving both U.S. personnel and three senior Afghan security officials and a third by a task force of members of the Ulemas Council and the Afghan parliament. The Ulemas Council is a body of mullahs versed in religious law.

At the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba, an investigation into allegations Korans had been desecrated led to the punishment of two U.S. soldiers. In Iraq, a soldier was found to have used a Koran for target practice.