Afghan police search for gunman

Police have identified a 25-year-old Afghan intelligence office as "the main suspect" in the killing of two US military advisers inside the Interior Ministry building in Kabul on Saturday, according to local media reports.

"A police officer who worked for the intelligence department of the Ministry of Interior has disappeared - officials believe he is the suspect, and they are looking for him," an official in the ministry told the AFP news agency.

The two US officers were found dead of gunshot wounds in their office. Taliban insurgents have claimed responsibility.

According to television reports, the suspect, Abdul Saboor, joined the ministry in 2007 as a driver after studying in Pakistan. He had one of the highest security clearances in the ministry.

Saboor apparently signed into the ministry on Saturday prior to the shootings, before disappearing. Senior Afghan security officials, speaking with local television Tolo, said they believe he is on the run.

Media reports said security forces have already raided Saboor's house in the northeastern province of Parwan, north of Kabul. Several of his relatives have been detained.

Calls for calm

The killings came on the fifth day of violent anti-US protests, in which at least 30 people have died. Demonstrators have continued to express their outrage over the burning of several copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, at a US air base, for which US President Barack Obama has apologized.

After the shooting, the commander of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, US General John Allen, announced he would pull all NATO staff out of Afghan government ministries. Since the protests began earlier this week, relations between Afghans and Western allies have sunk to an all-time low, according to analysts.

"It has never been as bad as this and it could be a turning point" in the West's 10-year mission in the war-torn country, Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts' Network told AFP.

'Precautionary' staff withdrawals

On Sunday, Germany joined its close allies France and Britain in announcing that it was withdrawing its staff from Afghan ministries and agencies. German Development Minister Dirk Niebel, who announced the move, described it as "a strictly precautionary measure."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed his calls for calm in a live televised address to the nation, saying the Quran burnings were being investigated.

"Now is the time to return to calm and not let our enemies use this situation," he said.

Karzai's words, though, appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, as the sometimes violent demonstrations continued for a sixth day. An Afghan protester was killed and at least six US soldiers were injured on Sunday after a crowd of demonstrators attempted to force their way into a base in the northern province of Kunduz. The soldiers were injured after demonstrators threw hand grenades into the base, according to Afghan police.

cmk, pfd/ng (AFP, AP, dpa)