Between 2,000 and 3,000 Muslims took to streets on Friday in Dar es Salaam to protest and condemn reported US troops' desecration of the Holy Koran.

The protest, called and organized by the Muslim Youth Council of Tanzania, went peacefully except for a burning of an American flag during a 4-km march.

The protesters sent their condemnation to the US embassy in Dar es Salaam and officials from the embassy met the representatives of the protesters and heard their concerns.

The protesting march started after Friday's prayers in a local mosque and ended on a square near the US embassy.

Shaaban Mpeyo, chairman of the Muslim Youth Council of Tanzania, said that the protesters had asked the US ambassador to apologize to the Muslims officially.

He added that his institution strongly condemn the reported desecration of the Holy Koran and had called upon the Tanzanian government to officially condemn the behavior of the US troops.

The May 9 issue of the American news weekly Newsweek reported that US soldiers had desecrated the Holy Koran by flushing some of its pages down the toilet in the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.

The news weekly has retracted the story after the report incited Muslims in quite a few countries to protest and demonstrate against the act.

A press release issued by the Dar es Salaam-based US embassy said that the US government has taken the allegations of the desecration act "very seriously and is thoroughly investigating them."

More than 35 percent of the population in Tanzania believe in Islam.

Source: Xinhua