Wednesday, May 18 2005 17:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States' image abroad has suffered lasting damage due to a news story, which claimed that US interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre desecrated the Quran to rattle detainees, the White House has said.

A day after Newsweek magazine retracted its story on the alleged desecration, the White House said the administration would encourage the magazine to go beyond retraction and apology to assuage ruffled feathers in the Muslim world.

"All we're saying is that we would encourage them to help undo the damage that has been done. Some of it's not going to be able to be undone, some of it is lasting," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday (May 17, 2005).

Newsweek at first apologised for the story, which had triggered violent protests in Afghanistan killing at least 17 people, and then retracted it under fire from the Bush Administration.

So many people lost their lives due to that story based on a single anonymous source, McClellan said.

Launching a damage control exercise, the Pentagon yesterday issued detailed rules for respecting the Quran at the detention centre in Cuba.

The memo directs US personnel to ensure that the holy book is not placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas."