Burning Quran: Most Hideous Crime

The action was unthinkable, especially when the plan was initiated from a pastor of a church, Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman told reporters at the country's federal administration center.

Terry Jones, a religious leader in Florida in the United States, has planned to burn copies of the Muslim holy book on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States.

Anifah said that is no doubt an attack on Muslims, adding that it would spark anger not only among Muslims in Malaysia, but all Muslims throughout the world.

"By the same token, I think the Christians and other religions' followers also do not condone this kind of action," added Anifah.

"If a Muslim burns a bible, not necessarily Christians are angry, but the Muslims are also angry, because Islam is a religion of peace," said Anifah.

When asked about the Malaysian government's next course of action, Anifah said: "I believe my colleagues will take appropriate action so that this thing (burning of Quran) will not happen."

Burning the Quran would be an "outrageous and grave gesture," the Vatican said Wednesday, joining a chorus of voices pleading with a small Florida church not to burn Islam's holy book.

The Vatican body responsible for dialogue with other religions expressed "great concern" about the plan by Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.

But despite the growing pressure, the pastor of the Florida church, Terry Jones, said Wednesday that "as of this time we have no intention of canceling."

Jones all week has rebuffed pleas to call off the event, saying radical Islamists are the target of his message.

The planned event has provoked international condemnation from military and political leaders to celebrities.

Moved by fear that the shameful act by the Dove World Outreach Centre, an evangelical church in Gainesville, would put the lives of coalition forces serving in Afghanistan at risk and inflame religious tensions worldwide, which the US government does not like at the time being, senior figures in the US have denounced the ceremony.

US President Barack Obama said: "This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities. This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda.

General David Petraeus, head of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, said: "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort. "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."

Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, said: "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."

Philip Crowley, Hillary Clinton's spokesman, said: "We would like to see more Americans stand up and say that this is inconsistent with our American values. "The potential act of burning a Koran is contrary to our values, contrary to how civil society has emerged in the country."

Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, said: "I deplore the act of burning the Koran. It is disrespectful, wrong and will be widely condemned by people of all faiths and none. "You do not have to be a Muslim to share a sense of deep concern at such a disrespectful way to treat the Holy Book of Islam. Rather than burn the Koran, I would encourage people to read it."

Angelina Jolie, the actress, said: "I have hardly the words that somebody would do that to somebody's religious book."

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said in his annual Eid message to Muslims marking the end of Ramadan, "The threat to desecrate scriptures is deeply deplorable and to be strongly condemned by all people. "These are challenges that we must respond to with a consistent message: that we oppose collectively all such provocations and insist that there is no place in our traditions for violent response."

Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, said in a statement: "Such actions cannot be condoned by any religion. "They contradict the efforts of the United Nations and many people around the world to promote tolerance, intercultural understanding and mutual respect between cultures and religions."

Brigadier General Hans-Werner Fritz, the commander of German troops in Afghanistan, said: "I only wish this wouldn't happen, because it would provide a trigger for violence towards all ISAF troops, including the Germans in northern Afghanistan."

Peter MacKay, Canada's defence minister, said: "It's a very provocative expression of freedom. "It will incite further violence and hatred and I'm concerned that this will put Canadians and other ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldiers in harm's way."

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said in a statement: "The president condemns the announcement of a religious group in the United States of its intention to openly burn copies of the Koran. "It is a clear contradiction of the teachings of the three Abrahamic religions and of dialogue among the three faiths [Christianity, Islam and Judaism]."

A group of religious leaders in the US, including Washington Roman Catholic Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Dr Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches, said in a statement: "To attack any religion in the United States is to do violence to the religious freedom of all Americans.

“The threatened burning of copies of the Koran this Saturday is a particularly egregious offence that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honour the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September. [tripolipost.com