US President George W. Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki overnight to apologise after an American soldier riddled a Koran with bullets near Baghdad.
Mr Bush "apologised for that in the sense that he said we take it very seriously,`` White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.
"We were concerned about their reaction, we wanted them to know that the president knew that this was wrong, and that the commanders in the field had publicly reprimanded the soldier and removed him from Iraq,`` she said.
Yesterday, Mr Maliki`s office said the Iraqi leader "expressed resentment and anger of the people and the Government of Iraq and the American President George W. Bush apologised to the Iraqi people".
It said Mr Bush had promised to send to trial the offending staff sergeant, who has since been expelled from his unit in Iraq and sent home to face disciplinary action over the March 11 incident west of Baghdad.
But Ms Perino said "the military would have to decide what course of action would take place".
In Baghdad the Iraqi Cabinet condemned the unidentified soldier`s action and asked Mr Maliki to impress on coalition member states to ensure that their troops in Iraq respected the Islamic religion, its beliefs and values.
The Cabinet also called for the "harshest punishment`` for the soldier who riddled the Muslim holy book with bullets and wrote an expletive inside.
US military authorities have already apologised to the local community west of Baghdad.
They described the incident as "as both serious and deeply troubling", but stressed it was an "isolated incident and a result of one soldier`s actions".
On Saturday the top US commander for Baghdad, Major General Jeffrey Hammond, met local leaders, issuing an apology and promising strict disciplinary action against the offender.
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