Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesian Muslims staged rally outside the US embassy in Jakarta on Sunday, condemning the alleged desecration of the Muslim holy book Koran by American soldiers at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

The protesters from 31 Islamic organizations demanded the United States to stop humiliating Muslims, close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and Abu Graip prison in Iraq and order the United States and its allies to leave Iraq, Afghanistan and other Islami ccountries.

"We will persistently give pressures to the government of the United States to stop humiliation and desecration of Koran as well as to the Muslims," said Syaefullah, head of a hardline Muslim organization in Indonesia.

The rally was participated by the Indonesian Ulemas Council, Indonesia's biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama, Muslim organization Muhammaddiyah and scores of political parties.

Newsweek magazine recently reported that investigators probing abuses at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp found interrogators had placed the Koran on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet.

Muslims consider the Koran as the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

The magazine has since retracted the report, which sparked three days of violent anti-US protests in Afghanistan. Enditem