A small Florida church Wednesday brushed aside global outrage and vowed to go ahead with burning some 200 Korans, as local officials drew up plans to try to tamp down the protest.
Despite international condemnation led by US officials, military and religious leaders, the church said its event to torch the Islamic holy book on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks would take place.
"As of this time we have no intention of canceling," Pastor Terry Jones told reporters in a press conference, adding his church the Dove World Outreach Center has received numerous messages of support.
Jones had indicated he was praying for guidance on whether to go ahead with the incendiary event after warnings from US Afghanistan commander General David Petraeus that the move would fuel Islamic anger, and endanger US troops.
"We understand the general's concerns and we are still considering it," Jones said, but swiftly added he had been contacted by a special forces soldier who told him "the people in the field are 100 percent behind us."
The gun-toting pastor, who has received death threats, says the aim of Saturday's event is to send a message to radical Islamists that they must abide by the US Constitution.
"Our burning of the Koran is to call attention that something's wrong. And it is possibly time for us in a new way to actually stand up and confront terrorism," he said.
But the planned burning of the Koran has triggered a chorus of protest, with many leaders fearful it will trigger a backlash and help fuel a tide of anti-Islam sentiment in the United States.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has denounced the plans as "disgraceful" while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he was deeply disturbed by the planned event.
Officials in the university town of Gainesville met Wednesday to draw up contingency plans with fire and police departments ahead of the torching, due to take place around 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Saturday.
City spokesman Bob Woods told AFP that church officials would be in violation of the city's code 10-63, which prohibits open-air burning and would be subject to a 250 dollar fine.
However, Woods said arrests were also not out of the question.
"It would depend on what happens next after Gainesville fire and rescue and the Gainesville police department step in to extinguish the fire," he said. "We have a plan for contingencies."
Fire authorities turned down an application a few weeks ago from Jones to hold the open-air burning ceremony, but police cannot intervene until they actually light the Korans.
The event by the obscure evangelical church, said to have about 50 members, has thrust an unwanted spotlight on the normally quiet town of some 124,000 people situated in north-central Florida.
Jones, who has headed the church since 2001, is also the author of a book entitled "Islam Is Of The Devil."
He has said he wants to honor the memory of the almost 3,000 people killed by Al-Qaeda militants in the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
But the scheme has already inflamed passions in the Islamic world, and could trigger further anger as it would coincide with the Eid al-Fitr feast to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan also due this weekend.
The United Nations on Wednesday added its voice to the chorus of global condemnation, warning civilians and aid workers in Afghanistan could be killed if the Koran burning goes ahead.
"If such an abhorrent act were to be implemented, it would only contribute to fueling the arguments of those who are indeed against peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan," said the top UN envoy in the country, Staffan de Mistura.
American religious leaders from across all faiths met with the US Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday urging him to make a strong statement against all hate crimes.
Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, who met with Holder said the top US law enforcement official had described the planned burning as "idiotic and dangerous."
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
