United States' image abroad has suffered lasting damage due to a news story which claimed that US interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre desecrated the Quran to rattle detainees, the White House has said.

A day after Newsweek magazine retracted its story on the alleged desecration, the White House said the administration will encourage the magazine to go beyond retraction and apology to assuage ruffled feathers in the Muslim world.

• Quran abuse: Questions remain

"All we're saying is that we will encourage them to help undo the damage. Maybe, some of it can't be undone," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said on Tuesday.

Newsweek at first apologised for the story, which had triggered violent protests in Afghanistan killing 17 people, and then retracted it under fire from the Bush administration.

•  No Quran abuse, says US

So many people lost their lives due to that story based on a single anonymous source, McClellan said.

Launching a damage control exercise, the Pentagon on Tuesday issued detailed rules for respecting the Quran at the detention centre in Cuba.

The memo directs US personnel to ensure that the holy book is not placed in 'offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas'.