Afghan Clerics Demand Public Trial For Koran Burners

More than 40 people were killed in the unrest and violence that followed the burning of the Korans.

Afghanistan's top religious council has demanded that those responsible for the burning of Korans at a NATO base last week be put on public trial.

A statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said that the Ulema Council "insists that such a devilish act is not forgivable through apologies, and that the perpetrators of this crime should soon be publicly tried and punished."

In the aftermath of the burning of the Korans at the Bagram military base, about 40 Afghan civilians were killed in protests across Afghanistan and at least five NATO soldiers were killed by rogue Afghan security operatives.

Jan Kubis, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said on March 1 that the protests were legitimate and that the United States should take disciplinary action against the perpetrators of the burning.

With Reuters and AFP reporting