Florida pastor plans to go ahead with Qu’ran burnings

Terry Jones says his mind is made up, but his congregation will pray that his decision won’t endanger U.S. troops.

Despite condemnation from the White House, the chief of American forces in Afghanistan, the Vatican, and Muslims everywhere, the head of a church in Gainesville, Florida says his congregation plans to go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Qu’ran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach centre said yesterday that while he is taking warnings that the event could cause a backlash against troops in Afghanistan seriously, he wants to send a message to radical Muslims. News of the plans has already sparked protests in Indonesia and Afghanistan. The U.S. embassy in Kabul has issued a statement distancing itself from Jones’s group, calling the action “offensive.”