WASHINGTON,Febrauary24,2012: President Barack Obama sent a letter to Afghan President
Hamid Karzai on Thursday apologizing for the burning of copies of the Quran at a US military base in Afghanistan, the
White House said.Obama told Karzai the incident, which has sparked angry protests against US and
Nato forces in Afghanistan, was not intentional.The letter, which the White House said was a follow-up to a phone call earlier this week between the two leaders to discuss a "long-term partnership" between Washington and Kabul, was delivered to Karzai by US Ambassador
Ryan Crocker."In the letter ... the president also expressed our regret and apologies over the incident in which religious materials were unintentionally mishandled at Bagram Airbase ," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.The
Taliban urged Afghans to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation for the Quran burning at Bagram airfield near
Kabul on Tuesday.Nato confirmed a man in Afghan army uniform killed two of its troops in the east on Thursday, but declined to say if the shooting was connected to the protests.The Quran burnings could make it even more difficult for US-led Nato forces to win the hearts and minds of Afghans and bring the Taliban to the negotiating table ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.The US government and the American commander of Nato-led forces in
Afghanistan had already apologized for the burnings after Afghan laborers found charred copies of the Quran while collecting rubbish at Bagram.
