Warnings against Quran burning plan

U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have said that the plan of a small church in Florida to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the attacks of September 11 attacks could endanger the lives of American troops.
Two senior U.S. military officials in Afghanistan said Monday the proposed burning of Muslim holy book could undermine the efforts of President Barack Obama to reach 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.
They said it could trigger retaliation against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The warnings are in the midst of angry protests by hundreds of people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, chanting "Death to America" as they denounced the planned protest by burning the church at Dove World Outreach Center Gainesville, Florida.
The center, which calls itself a "New Testament, charismatic, nondenominational church," he said to go ahead with the burning of the Koran, on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2001 attacks against the United States USA.
Gainesville authorities said that the event violate fire safety rules.
"It could endanger the troops and could endanger the overall effort," David Petraeus, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said in a statement to U.S. media organizations.
"This is precisely the kind of action and uses of the Taliban could cause significant problems. Not only here but around the world, we are engaged with the Islamic community. "
"Angry People"
Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, commander of the training mission to NATO in Afghanistan, told CNN that the news of the fire provided by the Qur'an Church little known in Florida was already angered people in Afghanistan.
"It's their holy book, so when someone says that they will destroy and cause a desecration of something very sacred to them is already generated much discussion and concern among citizens," he said .
"We really feel that this could compromise the safety of our men and women who serve here."
The U.S. embassy in Kabul said the U.S. government in any way condone such acts of disrespect against the religion of Islam, and is deeply concerned about the deliberate attempts to offend members of ethnic or religious groups " .
"Americans of all ethnic and religious reject the offensive initiative by this small group in Florida, many American voices are protesting against statements offensive conducted by this organization," he said in a statement.
Pastor remarks
In comments broadcast on CNN, Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, said he would be "tragic" if anybody's life has been lost as a result of the fire provided Koran.
But he said: "Yet I must say that we believe that we must, sooner or later stand up to Islam, and if we do not, it will not go away."
site of the church says it aims to "denounce Islam" as an "oppressive and violent religion."
It displays a sign reading "Islam of the Devil".
In Kabul, the demonstrators, mostly students from religious schools who had gathered outside the mosque in Kabul ul-Nabi Milad said they would continue their protests.
"We ask America to stop desecrating our holy Koran," Wahidullah Nori, a student, told the Reuters news agency.
The dispute comes at a time of heated debate already in the U.S. on a proposal to build a cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of New York from September 11 attacks against the World Trade Center.
Opponents of the building plan say it is insensitive to the families of victims of the attacks of Al Qaeda.
US-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan shortly after the attacks after it refused to hand over leaders of al-Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden.
Demonstrations and riots sparked by desecration of the Koran are not uncommon in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.
The most violent protests came after publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in 2006.
Last January, Afghan troops killed eight and wounded 13 protesters in the southern province of Helmand in a riot triggered by a report that foreign troops had desecrated the Koran during a raid, but a spokesperson NATO forces denied the report.