[Sniper101]

Bush apologizes for soldier's Quran desecration


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- President Bush has apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over the shooting of a Quran by an American soldier, Iraqi state TV reported on Tuesday.
An American staff sergeant -- a sniper section leader -- had used a Quran for target practice.
The U.S. commander in Baghdad issued a formal apology Saturday and read a letter of apology by the shooter.
The sergeant has been relieved of duty as a section leader "with prejudice," officially reprimanded by his commanding general, dismissed from his regiment and redeployed -- reassigned to the United States.
Reports of Quran desecration have enraged Muslims across the globe. In this instance, Iraq's most powerful Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, has demanded the "severest of punishments" for the American soldiers.