Newsweek on Monday retracted an incendiary report about US interrogators desecrating the Koran, which had led to anti-American violence throughout the Muslim world and drawn harsh criticism of the magazine from the White House.
“Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantánamo Bay,” Mark Whitaker, Newsweek's editor, said in a statement on Monday.
The retraction came hours after the White House accused the magazine of undermining US efforts in the Middle East.
US reservist found guilty of Abu Ghraib abuses
The furore over the article will fuel debate on the reliability of anonymous sources and unsettle mainstream US media, which have already been rocked by a string of recent scandals over reporting.
The latest controversy centres on Newsweek's report in its May 9 issue that guards at the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay had desecrated the Koran in order to pressure inmates to talk, including an incident in which a Muslim holy book was tossed into a lavatory.
The report sparked riots in Afghanistan in which more than a dozen people were killed.
Protests also spread to Pakistan and Indonesia.
Newsweek said its reporters had proceeded with publication of the story after its national security correspondent sent a draft copy to a “senior defence official”, asking: “Is this accurate or not?”
The official challenged one aspect of the story but was silent on the rest, Newsweek said. “The official had not meant to mislead but lacked detailed knowledge of the Southern Command report,” it wrote.
Newsweek had apologised to relatives of the victims of riots sparked by the magazine's claim.
Mr Whitaker said: “Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Koran incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts.”
In a letter to readers published in the latest issue, he added: “We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the US soldiers caught in its midst.”
The administration, however, was not assuaged by those explanations and yesterday questioned why the magazine had not retracted the article.
“The report has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged. I just find it puzzling,” said Scott McClellan, a White House spokesperson.
Returning from a trip to Iraq, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters the story's publication was “appalling”.
Many in Pakistan believe that the US government has bullied Newsweek into questioning its story, which in its essentials echoes other allegations of abuse at Guantánamo Bay detention centre that are currently under investigation.
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, told the FT that the alleged incident was “very, very regrettable” and created “difficulties” in relations with the US. The riots prompted the intervention of numerous US officials, including Ms Rice, who said the US would not “tolerate” disrespect for the Koran.
