WAHINGTON, May 11: The US State Department announced on Wednesday that the Pentagon would investigate the allegations that interrogators at a US military prison in Cuba had desecrated the Holy Quran. The Newsweek magazine reported earlier this week that investigators looking into abuses at the Guantanamo Bay prison found evidence of this desecration.

“The alleged desecration, if it occurred, would be deplorable and completely out of keeping with our deeply held values of religious freedom and tolerance,” the State Department said in a written answer to a question posed at Tuesday’s press briefing.

“Desecration of the Holy Quran is a reprehensible act that would not be sanctioned by the US for any purpose,” it said.

The State Department said Pakistan “expressed its serious concern to senior officials” at the US Embassy in Islamabad. After the meeting, the ministry of foreign affairs said US officials had assured them that “the alleged perpetrators of the reported desecration would be held accountable after the matter had been appropriately investigated and responsibility is established.”