A group of Iranian worshipers staged a demonstration in Tehran on Friday in protest against reported American soldiers' desecration of the Holy Qur'an, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Hundreds of worshipers, after performing their Friday prayers, took to the streets in central Tehran, shouted slogans like "Down with USA" and "Down with UK", and burnt the American flag as well as effigies of US President George W. Bush.

"The desecration of Islam's holy book will never be forgotten, and it will cost the arrogant pagans and their masters very dearly," the demonstrators were quoted as saying.

Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel and many other senior officials were among the protestors, the report said.

Adel and Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi have already officially condemned the reported desecration action.

The Newsweek magazine reported on May 9 that US interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp placed copies of the Holy Qur'an on toilets to rattle Muslim inmates, and in one case flushed a holy book down the toilet.

The report has touched off worldwide condemnation, especially among Muslims. Under great pressure from the concerned parties, the magazine on Monday announced a withdraw of the report.

Source: Xinhua