Careless Talk Costs Lives

US magazine Newsweek has said it erred in reporting that a copy of the Koran had been flushed down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay by US interrogators.

It said a US military investigation had failed to corroborate the story and apologised for carrying the report.

At least 15 people have been killed in anti-US riots in Afghanistan following the article's publication last week.

In Pakistan, an alliance of six conservative Islamic parties has already rejected Newsweek's retraction.

Alliance leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, said it was "a crude attempt, both by the weekly magazine and the American authorities to defuse the anger of the Muslims across the world".

In its latest edition, Newsweek's editor writes that its original source is not sure where he saw the assertion.