CNN 2012-02-25

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Dozens of people are reportedly killed by violence in Syria and yesterday that include two journalists.They lost their lives trying to raise awareness¹ about the crisis over there.French President,Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to them,saying if reporters were not over there,we would not know what is going on.Now these two were killed in the city of Homs by artillery² fire.

 

One of the journalist was Remi Ochlik,a prizewinner for photographer and the other,Marie Colvin.She was interviewed on Anderson Cooper's CNN program the nigh before she died.She compared the violence in Syria to some of the other conflicts she reported on.

 

This is the worst of Anderson,for many reasons,the last,I think,the last time we talked when I was in Misrata.It's partly personal safety,I guess.There's no where to run.There's a lot of snipers on the high buildings surrounding the neighborhood.You can sort of figure out where sniper is,but you can't figure where,and where shell is going to land.And just the terror of the people and you know,the helplessness.

 

In Afghanistan,violence demonstrations³ have left at least 5 people dead.These protesters are angry about coalition⁴ troops,burning Qurans or Islam`s holy book.Military official say the Qurans were burning by mistake and not because of any decision about Islam.Brian Todd has more on the protests and explains how experts say Qurans should be handled.

 

Fires,angry chants,fist waving and response to what the military say was an inadvertent to burning of Qurans at Bagram Airfield⁵ in Afghanistan.

 

One of officials says some of the materials was removed from a detainee center of American base because of the inscriptions⁶ indicating the official says that the documents may have been used to facilitate extreme messages.

 

US military officials apologize for what they called an error but experts say even an accidental mishandling of the Quran is dangerous.Don't want this to happen, the sequence of the events because this is going to start affecting our own troops withdraw over the next couple months.

 

Akbar Ahmed is the chair of Islamic Studies at American University.He says understanding of these protests and other violence associated with the report of Quran being desecrated⁷ has to involve understanding of how the book is viewed in the Muslim world.

 

Akbar Ahmed says the Quran was so revered⁸.That the only time Muslims really pick it up is around the time of prayer and before that,hands should be washed from hands to elbow,face three times and the feet.And when it's time to place the Quran down,you should also be place,he says,as the high the point in the room and when you are in the same room with the Quran,you should not even point feet toward the book.

 

That's to keep physical purity,Ahmed says on part of the spiritual purity of the Quran.He says Qurans are passed between generations of families.

 

One Muslim scholar says if Quran is damaged,burning,burying or shredding⁹ is acceptable,otherwise you will never supposed to dispose of them in anywhere.Not Muslims,not Muslims,so Muslims technically¹⁰ can't tear it up, or throw it away,throw it into the dustbin.

 

What about non Muslims?Non Muslims again,it's entirely¹¹ in United States,it's a free country,free speech,free actions and no one can stop anyone doing anything.I would say that if we have,an American who is not Muslim has copies of Quran,want to dispose ring up Muslim friends or ring up Islamic center say, look,I got couple of these copies,you know,I don`t know what to do with them. I don`t want to insult your faith by throwing them into the dustbin. Would you come and collect them?

 

But Ahmed emphasized he doesn't excuse the violence reaction to incident involving the Quran.Like what happened last year,after a Florida pastor¹² ceremoniously burned the copy of the book and crowds attacked UN facilities in Afghanistan, killing¹³ 12 people.Ahmed says Muslim scholars have to talk to their followers¹⁴ about proper responses that don't involve violence.

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