[JURIST] AP is reporting that Newsweek magazine has officially retracted its May 9 story that US personnel at Guantanamo had desecrated the Koran. Editors at the magazine began publicly backtracking from the story Sunday night [JURIST report] after a source said he could no longer be certain that he had read of any such actions in Pentagon documents; the editors at that point apologized to the victims of Afghan rioting [JURIST report] incited by the report. US officials Monday sharply criticized the magazine for printing the unconfirmed story, with White House spokesman Scott McLellan saying it had damaged US-Muslim relations {retuers report]. In the Muslim world meanwhile, the government of Pakistan repeated its demand [AP report] that the US investigate the alleged incident despite the Newsweek apology; a Pentagon probe [VOA report] into the allegations is ongoing.

5:35 PM ET – AP now has more.