Obama condemns Quran burning plan
By IANSThursday, September 9, 2010
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Thursday condemned the plans by a Florida church to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack, saying it could endanger the lives of US military personnel serving in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Terry Jones, the pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, is planning to conduct an “International Burn a Quran Day” Saturday.
If the church went ahead with its plans, the burning could endanger US military personnel serving in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Omaba said.
“Look, this is a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda. You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who’d be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities,” Obama said in an interview to ABC television.
Obama said he hoped Jones “understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans, that this country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance”.
“And as a very practical matter, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform,” the president said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already condemned the pastor’s plan, and dmanded that he abandon it.
