Obama: Quran Burning Plan Dangerous, Destructive

US President Barack Obama has reprimanded a church's plan to burn 200 copies of the holy Quran, and branded the plan as destructive and dangerous.

Terry Jones, the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, is planning to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"If he [Terry Jones] is listening, I hope he 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," Obama said in an interview broadcast Thursday on ABC's Good Morning America program.

"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," he said, describing the move as 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 would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities," Obama stated.