PESHAWAR, June 16: The business community of the NWFP has demanded that criminals involved in desecration of the Holy Quran should be tried in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The community staged a demonstration here on Thursday against the disrespect to the Holy Quran and mistreatment of prisoners by the American forces in Guantanamo.

The NWFP Tajir Ittehad, which includes representatives of 25 business organisations, started the demonstration form the University Road, the main road of the provincial metropolis, and marched towards the US Consulate at Hayatabad Avenue.

They handed over to an official of the US Consulate a letter addressed to the US President George W. Bush in which they also demanded of the US government that the individuals involved in the act should either be handed over to Pakistan or be tried by the ICJ. They further demanded that incidents of such nature should be avoided in future.

Amjad Ali Qadri, president of the ittehad, said that most of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay were Muslims and they should be given right to access to the lawyers and right of fair trial or they be given status of prisoners of war (PoW) and be treated according to the Geneva Convention.