Karzai condemns Taleban body burning

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai voiced his condemnation after the release of television images appearing to show US soldiers buring the corpses of two Taleban fighters in Afghanistan, and called for a quick inquiry.

The US military -- already under fire for the handling of Afghan detainees and desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay, which provoked angry protests in Afghanistan -- has ordered an inquiry into the footage shown on Australian television.

"We in Afghanistan, in accordance with our religion and traditions and adherence to international law, are very unhappy and condemn the burning of two Taleban dead bodies," Karzai said.

"We do not like such incidents and I hope such incidents will not occur again," he told reporters at the presidential palace.

The footage was shot by an Australian network in the southern province of Kandahar, the former bastion of the Taleban.

The television report quoted the US soldiers as saying they burned the bodies for hygienic reasons. But the act could be deeply offensive to Muslims, whose faith prohibits cremation and demands respect for the dead.

After the burning, according to the TV report, a US psychological operations unit broadcast a propaganda message on loudspeakers to a nearby village thought to harbour Taleban fighters, taunting them to retrieve their dead and fight.

Calling for "effective and quick" investigations, Karzai said the US military should share the results of its probe with the Afghan government.

Abdul Hai Mutmaen, the Taleban's chief spokesman, urged Islamic countries to show a united reaction to the incident and challenged right groups over their silence.

"Where are the human right groups?" he asked. "Why are they not raising their voice about this brutality? We call upon all of the Islamic countries to come up with a united reaction on this," he told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

- REUTERS