BATTERED and badly bruised by recent allegations of atrocities and the massacre of civilians in Iraq, the US Marine Corps is putting on its best public face back at home.

General Mike Hagee, the Marine Corps’ commandant, was among the top military leaders who attended the dedication of an Islamic prayer centre at the Corps’ Quantico base in Virginia on Tuesday.

Yesterday at a press conference he spoke of the Marines’ pride in high standards, and promised once more that those who violated such values would be held to account.

The prayer centre, the first of its kind in the 230-year history of the Corps, is a nondescript white building serving about 30 Muslims at the base. General Hagee said that Muslims and Christians shared many values, and that the opening of an Islamic prayer centre would help to “bind us together”.

He was later bombarded with questions about the progress of criminal investigations into the alleged massacre of 24 civilians in al-Haditha and the murder of a man in Baghdad. Although he refused to comment on the specifics of each case, he said that the scope of inquiries included not only questions about whether “we had done the right thing on the battlefield” but also “up the chain of command”.

Gordon England, the US Deputy Defence Secretary, made a speech at the prayer centre dedication praising the contribution of 4,000 Muslims in the US military. “This is a nation of all races and all creeds who believe in liberty and freedom,” he said.

He singled out Nazim Abdul Karriem, a former US servicemen who was seated in the front row and took part in the D-Day landings in Normandy 62 years ago. Mr England asked the 87-year-old veteran to stand and take a bow, but he might have been a little more circumspect if he had spoken to Mr Karriem first. Mr Karriem converted in 1956 and later became involved in Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam.

What did he think about the Iraq war? “I see it as a war against Islam. We have had this before with the Crusades. We have occupied land which does not belong to us,” Mr Kariem told The Times. Should the Taleban have been allowed to remain in power over Afghanistan? “Well, it’s their country,” he replied.

His friend, Ghayth Nur Kashif, an imam who served in the Korean War, also spoke about how he had been affected by the scenes of carnage in Iraq. “It is not just al-Haditha. That has come on the heels of Abu Ghraib as well.”

The idea for the centre came from Lieutenant Abuhena Saifulislam, who was approached by Muslims and students at the base seeking a place to pray. Inside the building, large posters explaining how “Muslims love and respect Jesus”, suggest its role may also be to educate other Marines about some of the subtleties of Islam.

But there remains a profound sense of awkwardness among some of Quantico’s Muslims. Staff Sergeant Madyun Shahid said: “We’re just like all other Marines and we’re just glad we have this here so that we can practise our faith.”

What about the war? “I don’t want to comment on that.”

At that point a civilian minder whispered in his ear. “I’m an American and I’m a US Marine,” said Sgt Shahid. “Time to go,” said the minder.

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