US pastor inflames Afghanistan violence further
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World
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Apr 3, 2011
US pastor inflames Afghanistan violence further
Dove World Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones said in a statement, 'Islam is not a religion of peace.' -- PHOTO: REUTERS
GAINESVILLE, Florida - A US pastor, whose burning of the Quran sparked deadly violence all the way over in Afghanistan, has called for 'immediate' US and UN action against its perpetrators, saying the whole religion of Islam must be held accountable.
'Islam is not a religion of peace,' Dove World Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones said in a statement issued after seven foreign UN workers had been killed in Afghanistan by protesters angered by the Quran burning, in the deadliest attack on the UN there since the 2001 invasion.
Four Nepalese, one Swedish, one Norwegian and one Romanian worker were believed to have been killed Friday, and several protesters killed or wounded after a mob overwhelmed guards at the UN compound in the normally relatively calm city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The Taleban claimed responsibility for the violence following a battle of over three hours.
Jones called the killings 'a very tragic and criminal action'. 'The United States government and the United Nations itself, must take immediate action,' he continued.
Jones presided over the burning of the Islamic holy book on March 20 at his Florida church, an act he had long threatened despite warnings it would put American troops and others in Afghanistan in danger.
Don Northrup founded the Dove World Outreach Center church 'in the living room of his home' in 1986 in Gainesville, according to the church's website. Northrup died in 1996 and Jones took over several years later. -- AFP
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Sunday April 3, 2011
U.S. pastor unbowed, vows new anti-Islam protest
By Yusila Ramirez
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Reuters) - A militant fundamentalist Christian preacher in Florida whose burning of a Koran triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan was unrepentant on Saturday and defiantly vowed to lead an anti-Islam protest outside the biggest mosque in the United States.
Pastor Terry Jones poses inside the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, April 2, 2011. (REUTERS/Phelan M. Ebenhack)The planned demonstration could further inflame tensions over the Koran burning, which led to two days of protests in Afghanistan that included the killings of U.N. staff and stoked anti-Western sentiment in parts of the Muslim world.
"Our aim is to make an awareness of the radical element of Islam," Pastor Terry Jones told Reuters in an interview at the church he leads in the college town of Gainesville, Florida. A picture of the burning Koran was on his computer screen.
"Obviously it is terrible any time people are murdered or killed. I think that on the other hand, it shows the radical element of Islam."
Jones, a former hotel manager turned pastor who claims the Koran incites violence, said he will go ahead with a protest on April 22 in front of the largest mosque in the United States, located in Dearborn, Michigan.
President Barack Obama denounced the act of burning a Koran but did not mention Jones by name.
"The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry," Obama said in a statement released by the White House on Saturday. "However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity."
Jones provoked an international outcry last year over his plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
He backed down after pleas from the U.S. government and other world officials, but then presided over a March 20 mock trial of the Koran that included a torching of the book. It barely drew media attention but Internet footage reverberated across the Muslim world.
FREE SPEECH
A range of Christian and U.S. Muslim leaders have condemned Jones and his small Dove World Outreach Center church, which reportedly has a congregation of around 30 members.
"One of the great tragedies of all this is that a tiny fringe church can cause such an uproar," said Geoff Tunnicliffe, director of the World Evangelical Alliance International, which groups together evangelical churches in more than 100 countries.
"My question to him is, 'Why would you want to provoke people to this kind of response, knowing this was probably going to be the outcome?'"
Government officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan have called for U.S. authorities to arrest Jones. However, his public criticism of Islam and desecration of the Koran are allowed under U.S. laws protecting free speech.
Jones defended the Koran burning and said the reaction in Afghanistan "shows exactly what we're talking about."
"If my neighbor offends me, it does not give me the right to break into his house and kill him," he told Reuters.
He said he has received several hundred death threats since he first talked of burning the Koran last September, leading him to carry a handgun and take shooting classes.
Safety concerns at the church have driven away most of the churchgoers, he said. "We have seen a drop-off."
He did not say whether he intended to burn another Koran during the upcoming protest, which he said should not be viewed as an attack against all Muslims.
"To the peaceful Muslim that lives down the street, we are sorry if our actions have offended them, which I am sure it has. But at the same we are not trying to attack them," he said. "We are trying to make it very clear that we are against this radical element," he added.
(Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Paul Simao and Kieran Murray)
Copyright © 2011 Reuters
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World
HOME > BREAKING NEWS > WORLD > STORY
Apr 3, 2011
Obama condemns Quran burning 'bigotry'
US President Barack Obama condemned a US pastor's burning of the Quran as an act of 'extreme intolerance and bigotry'. -- PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama on Saturday condemned a US pastor's burning of the Quran, after violent protests at what he called an act of 'extreme intolerance and bigotry' left 17 dead in Afghanistan.
Mr Obama also reiterated his condemnation of the 'outrageous' attacks by protesters as 'an affront to human decency and dignity.' 'No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act,' he added.
Ten people died amid fresh protests that began in the center of the main southern city of Kandahar and spread as police clashed with crowds on Saturday, a day after seven UN staff were killed in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the worst attack on the world body in the country since the 2001 invasion.
'The desecration of any holy text, including the Quran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry,' Mr Obama said in a statement honouring those killed in the attacks.
Kandahar is the spiritual heartland of the Taleban, who have fought an insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's government in Kabul and its Western allies since they were ousted by the US-led invasion.
'Death to America' and 'Death to Karzai' chanted the demonstrators. 'They have insulted our Quran,' shouted one. Police had fired into the air to try to deter thousands of protesters marching toward the UN offices and provincial administration headquarters. -- AFP
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There will always be people who make good quotes and people see bad, and vice versa.
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Like dat say win liao lor.
The damn pastor terry has 2 b held accountable in d 1st place for his action. His action clearly will incited violence n he know it.
Its like his church is so innocent by burning other's religion sacred book.
Obama condemns Quran burning 'bigotry'
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Not all muslims are radical.
A small percentage of muslims are radical.
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Originally posted by Millenium Falcon:
Not all muslims are radical.
A small percentage of muslims are radical.
agreed..
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a case of radicals against radicals
let them fight it out on the ring
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
a case of radicals against radicals
let them fight it out on the ring
i agree
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Round 1!
Fight!
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This pastor is radical christian.
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
a case of radicals against radicals
let them fight it out on the ring
BUT.....can he??now , he kpkb ask US UN 2 kp those afganistan pple.
sooooooooo unrepentence