Koran burning plan a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda: Barak Obama

Washington : A Florida pastor’s plan to burn Koran to mark the 9/11 anniversary is “a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda,” President Barack Obama said on Thursday.

In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, Obama said the move can result in serious violence against American troops in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Terry Jones, the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small church located in Florida, has reportedly said it will go ahead with its intention to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, despite widespread condemnation of the plans.

“If he’s listening, I just hope he understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values ? this country has been built on the notions of religious freedom and religious tolerance,” Obama said.

“As a very practical matter, as commander (in) chief of the armed forces of the United States, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan.”

He said pastor Terry Jones’ actions could boost recruitment of people who would be willing to “blow themselves up” in cities in America or Europe.

General David Petraeus, the American commander in Afghanistan, earlier said the action can endanger the American troops there while the F.B.I. of USA said Islamic extremists would likely retaliate.

The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday voiced his outrage over the threat by thereligious group in the United States to burn copies of the Koran, warning that it could endanger the lives of those working to further peace and development in the Asian nation.