Church’s plan to burn Qur’an under fire

WASHINGTON: Afghan police went on alert yesterday to guard against demonstrations triggered by a US church’s plan to burn a copy of the Qur’an on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks which has drawn global condemnation.

Tension has risen with the approach of the ninth anniversary on Saturday of the Sept. 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the US.

Plans by Terry Jones, the pastor of a small church in Gainesville, Florida, to burn a copy of the Qur’an have added to what US religious leaders have described as an “anti-Muslim frenzy”.

The UN said such an act would be “abhorrent”.

“On behalf of the UN and the whole international community present in Afghanistan, I would like to express in the strongest possible terms our concern and indeed outrage at the announcement by a small religious group abroad of their intention to burn copies of the holy book of the Qur’an,” UN envoy Staffan de Mastura said in a statement issued in Kabul.

The planned Qur’an-burning by the Dove World Outreach Center sparked protests by several hundred Afghans in Kabul this week, mostly students from religious schools. Gathered outside a mosque in the Afghan capital, they chanted “Death to America”.

A senior police official in Kabul, who asked not to be identified, said an
Interior Ministry anti-demonstration unit had been put on high alert on Wednesday in case protests broke out.

There have been frequent protests in the past over similar incidents. Last January, Afghan troops shot and killed eight protesters and wounded 13 in southern Helmand province during a riot triggered by the reported desecration of a Qur’an.

Two of the top US commanders in Afghanistan have said the Florida church’s plan risked undermining US President Barack Obama’s efforts to reach out to the world’s 1.5bn Muslims.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the “disgraceful” burning ceremony.

Clinton was the most senior US official to speak out against the torching scheduled for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, saying she was “heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths.”

The White House also added its voice to warnings that the move could trigger outrage around the Islamic world and endanger the lives of US soldiers.

“It puts our troops in harm’s way. And obviously any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm’s way would be a concern to this administration,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

General David Petraeus, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, said the plan could trigger retaliation against US forces in Afghanistan.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Petraeus said in a statement this week.

US Attorney General Eric Holder met religious leaders to discuss ways of stemming the anti-Islam tide, with calls from the broad coalition of faiths to make a strong speech condemning hate crimes.

Muslim Advocates executive director Farhana Khera said after the meeting that Holder had described the Qur’an-burning plan as “idiotic and dangerous,” but regretted the ceremony itself was not a violation of federal law.

Yesterday, the Vatican added to world condemnation of the planned Qur’an burning.

“These deplorable acts of violence, in fact, cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“Each religion, with its respective sacred books, places of worship and symbols, has the right to respect and protection.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, condemned the church’s plans too, with spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic saying “this is not the right way to go forward.”

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denounced the pastor’s plans, saying it contradicted Christian teachings.

“The president condemns the announcement of a religious group in the US of its intention to openly burn copies of the Qur’an,” said a statement released by the office of the Christian president.

Malaysia’s conservative Islamic party PAS said it would urge Muslims to protest outside the US embassy if the Florida church goes ahead with its plan.

However, PAS youth chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi called the Qur’an-burning a “desecration and an insult to Islam which cannot go unchallenged.”

“What these people are planning to do goes against the tenets of all religions to live in peace and harmony with one another, and will only anger the Muslim ummah (community) around the world,” Nasrudin said.

“We are going to send a letter of protest but if they go ahead with the burning, we will have no choice but to take to the streets outside the US embassy to protest against this horrible action,” he said.

“This burning does not serve as a warning to radical Muslims but angers all Muslims which surely cannot be what any right-thinking person wants.”