BAGHDAD, May 20 (UPI) -- Iraqi television said President George Bush telephoned Iraq's prime minister to offer a personal apology for the desecration of a Koran by a U.S. soldier.
Tuesday's conversation between Bush and Nouri al-Maliki came amid an uproar over an Army sergeant's reported decision to use the Islamic holy book for target practice at a Baghdad firing range.
The Kuwait News agency KUNA said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin paid a personal call on the Iraqi vice president in a fence-mending measure Tuesday.
Meanwhile, al-Alam reported that the Association of Muslim Scholars condemned the incident following a wave of street protests across Iraq during the weekend.