NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that the burning of copies of the Koran at a US military base in Afghanistan was "unintentional," contradicting the findings of an Afghan investigation, dpa reported.
"The preliminary results of the investigations that have been initiated reveal that this incident was unintentional. The facts show that there was no malicious intent to mishandle religious material," he told reporters in Brussels.
He described the incident as "very unfortunate," adding: "Our commanders in Afghanistan will make decisions about the appropriate next steps ... to avoid such incidents in the future."