The White House on Tuesday raised concern about a US church's plan to burn Holy Quran and backed its Afghan war commander's warning that it could put US troops at risk. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated comments by top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus.
"It puts our troops in harm's way, any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm's way would be a concern to this administration," Gibbs said. Pastor Terry Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville Florida, vowed to go ahead with the desecration of the holy book on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He had given "serious" consideration to the concerns expressed by Petraeus, but said on Tuesday nevertheless "we have firmly made up our mind" to go ahead with the plan. Jones said their planned act was aimed "to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11," and to send a warning "to the radical element of Islam."
The US commander of the Afghan war warned that a decision by American evangelicals would endanger his troops as the Muslim world reacted angrily to the plan. General David Petraeus said the planned torching of the holy book by a Florida church would be a propaganda coup for the Taliban in Afghanistan and stoke anti-US sentiment across the Muslim world. Protests have already gone ahead in the capital Kabul and in Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim-majority country - while Iran has warned that the burning could unleash an uncontrolled Muslim response.
The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, says it will burn copies of the Holy Quran on this weekend's ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Afghanistan, where Petraeus leads a 150,000-strong US-led Nato force against Taliban-led insurgency, is a deeply devout Islamic country where actions seen as against the religion have previously led to deadly violence. "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," said Petraeus of the plan.
"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community," the general said in an emailed statement. On Monday about 200 men gathered near a mosque in Kabul to protest against the planned torching, shouting "Death to America" and "Long live Islam" for about an hour after their midday prayers, witnesses said.
In January seven tribesmen were killed by gunfire from Afghan security forces trying to disperse angry crowds during a demonstration sparked by allegations that US troops had torched the Muslim holy book. In late August about 100 Indonesian Islamists demonstrated outside the US embassy in Jakarta and threatened "jihad" or holy war if the US Christian group went through with the stunt.
On Tuesday Indonesian Christians said they feared violent reprisals if the burning went ahead. Indonesian Protestant Christian Churches Union (PGI) has sent a letter to US President Barack Obama asking him to intervene to prevent the book burning, chairman Andreas Yewangoe told AFP. The PGI represents about 20,000 churches and nine million followers in Indonesia.
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