Rumored Koran defiling stirs protest

US military officials denied that any copies of the Muslim holy book had been mishandled and accused the Taliban of spreading falsehoods to incite hatred against Western forces.

But the protest - reminiscent of similar demonstrations in Iraq and elsewhere in the Muslim world in recent years - showed how easily passions involving religious sensitivities can be stirred up even with a dearth of evidence.

Four American troops were killed and two injured in the southern part of the country today when two helicopters collided in midair.

Hostile fire has been ruled out in the crash, a military statement said. Colonel Wayne Shanks, a military spokesman, said he did not have other details yet about the cause of the collision.

In an unrelated incident, another helicopter went down today during an operation by international forces against insurgents in western Afghanistan in which a dozen militants were killed.

Yesterday’s protests also pointed to a strong undercurrent of anti-American sentiment at a politically fraught time in Afghanistan, less than two weeks before a runoff to settle a fraud-tainted presidential election.

The Nov. 7 face-off between President Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah was agreed to only after US pressure on Karzai to accept the results of an international audit.

The investigators found as many as one-third of the ballots cast for Karzai in the Aug. 20 election had been fraudulent. That put the Afghan leader below the threshold of victory, 50 percent, which made a runoff necessary.

On US news shows yesterday, both candidates ruled out a power-sharing agreement to avoid the runoff.

“We must have a second round. If we don’t do that, we’ll be insulting democracy and a pledge to respecting the vote of the people,’’ Karzai said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria - GPS’’ program.

Abdullah was asked if he were interested in a deal to avoid a runoff. “No, I think I should rule it out because I’m ready to go for a runoff,’’ he replied.

Abdullah said he did not want to rejoin the Karzai government, which he left three years ago, because he did not want to be part of “the same deteriorating situation.’’ He was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday’’ and CNN’s “State of the Union.’’

The planned runoff poses huge logistical challenges, and the Taliban has threatened to attack voters.

Against a backdrop of alleged election fraud, yesterday’s Koran protest reflected a rising religious conservatism even among some members of Afghanistan’s educated elite, such as the university students who made up most of the crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators.

Police fired warning shots into the air when the demonstrators marched from Kabul University toward the parliament, but no injuries were reported.

Several marchers insisted they were certain that a Koran had been desecrated by US troops in Wardak province, just outside the capital, even if they could not provide particulars of the incident, such as when it was believed to have taken place.

“Muslims were disrespected!’’ said Zabiullah Khalil, an engineering student. “The foreigners shot the Koran, and then they burned it. They should be tried for this.’’

The demonstration, like many in the capital, had a heartfelt yet orchestrated feel to it. Khalil, like a number of other participants, expressed broad anger at the United States in connection with the election and its disputed aftermath.

“We don’t want a slave government,’’ he said. “We want a real Islamic country.’’

The Western military coalition said the reports of desecration, which originated last week in Wardak after an American convoy hit a roadside bomb, were groundless. It said Afghan and Western officials had carried out a joint investigation before reaching their conclusion.