Karzai calls emergency session of Parliament

KABUL by US soldiers, an official said on Wednesday.

At least eight people were killed and 21 others wounded as protests over the incident continued across Afghanistan for a second day on Wednesday.

Wolesi Jirga (lower house) Speaker Abdur Rauf Ibrahimi told lawmakers President Karzai had invited all parliamentarians to the meeting at the Presidential Palace.  

In a unanimously passed resolution, the house demanded harsh punishment for the soldiers involved in the desecration. The resolution was passed after the Wolesi Jirga Secretariat showed MPs burnt pages of the Quran.

ISAF Commander Gen. John R. Allen on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the reported sacrilege. “When we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them. The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities.” 

mas/mud