Prometheus 6

U.S. military says soldier shot at Koran
An officer apologizes and reads a letter of regret by the shooter, who has been removed from Iraq.
Associated Press
4:38 AM PDT, May 18, 2008

BAGHDAD — A soldier used a Koran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad, prompting an apology from the military, a spokesman said Sunday.

Separately, mortar shells slammed into a residential area north of Baghdad, killing at least four people and wounding 30, most of them children playing outside, officials said Sunday.

The shelling occurred as clashes broke out in Shiite areas late Saturday despite a truce reached last week by Shiite politicians and followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Koran with graffiti inside the cover on a small-arms range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said.