Emeutes à Jalabad et Kandahar – 3 avril 2011

Taliban exploits Afghan riots over Koran burning

Los Angeles Times

Officials say insurgents have used the riots as cover for attacks against Western and government targets and have reaped propaganda benefits by allying themselves with popular fury over the incident led by Florida pastor Terry Jones.

By Laura King, Los Angeles Times

April 4, 2011

(…)

On Sunday, Afghans took to the streets for a third straight day, in Jalalabad and Kandahar, to protest the March 20 burning of a copy of the Koran by followers of Terry Jones, a pastor based in Gainesville, Fla. Officials in Kandahar reported at least two more deaths and dozens of injuries; the Jalalabad protest, though angry and impassioned, was largely peaceful.

The latest fatalities brought the three-day death toll to 22: seven U.N. workers and four demonstrators killed Friday when rioters stormed their compound in Mazar-i-Sharif after mosque preachers inveighed against the Koran burning, and at least nine people killed in daylong rioting Saturday in Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.

The protests, which have touched virtually every major Afghan city, not only showed the hair-trigger sensibilities associated with any insult to Islam in this deeply conservative society but also illustrated the gulf between Western and Afghan precepts regarding free speech and civil liberties.

Many Afghans, including some sophisticated urban dwellers, were baffled that what they considered an overt act of blasphemy could be deemed a permissible expression of political opinion.

« How can you do something that you know is going to cause violence and not be held accountable? » said Sayeed Humayoun, a Kabul teacher. « Even my littlest pupils know better than this. »

President Hamid Karzai, as so often happens, appeared caught between the expectations of his Western patrons and the desire to avoid appearing complicit with foreigners at the expense of his own people. He offered condolences over the U.N. deaths even as he reiterated demands Sunday that those involved in the Koran burning be punished.

The Taliban had no need to tread any such fine line. In a statement Sunday, the movement depicted the West as infidels and Karzai’s security forces as « hirelings » doing foreigners’ bidding in their attempts to quell the violence.

Senior Western officials in Afghanistan have been urgently seeking Karzai’s assistance in calming passions. U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, together with Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander of Western forces in Afghanistan, and Mark Sedwill, the senior NATO civilian representative, met with Karzai, the president’s office said Sunday.

Read All…