Kabul: James Grant, a US army officer in Afghanistan, has embraced Islam in the Watapur district of eastern Kunar province.

The officer from the US state of Tennessee said he converted after reading books on Islam for the last seven months at a coalition camp in the town.

He has changed his name to Mohammad Asif.

Father of two, Grant formally announced his decision on Friday, insisting he found Islam a religion of truth.

He said he had consulted his wife before the conversion. “She did not oppose my conversion. I would preach Islam to my family first, and then to others.”