Playing with fire!

GAINESVILLE, Florida (AP):

AS FLORIDA officials worried about public safety surrounding a small church's plan to burn the Quran, President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition to the church's intention to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Elsewhere, hundreds of angry Afghans burned an American flag and chanted "Death to the Christians" yesterday to protest the planned Quran burning.

Obama urged the Reverend Terry Jones to "listen to those better angels" and call off his plan to engage in a Quran-burning protest this weekend.

In an interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America' broadcast yesterday, Obama said what Jones proposed "is completely contrary to our values as Americans. This country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance".

On alert

Florida Governor Charlie Crist said on Wednesday he would closely monitor what was planned for Saturday at the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville to try to ensure people are safe. US embassies around the world intended to do the same after being ordered by the State Department to assess their security. Officials feared the burning could spark anti-American violence, including against soldiers, a concern shared by the US commander in Afghanistan.

"In addition to being offensive, the Gainesville protest puts at risk those brave Americans who are fighting abroad for the freedoms and values that we believe in as Americans," said Crist, who is running as an independent for the US Senate.

In Afghanistan, local officials in Mahmud Raqi, the capital of the Kapisa province some 60 miles northeast of Kabul, estimated that up to 4,000 people protested the planned burning. But NATO spokesman James Judge said there were between 500 and 700 people. Judge added that the Quran burning is "precisely the kind of activity the Taliban uses to fuel their propaganda efforts to reduce support" for coalition forces.

Despite the mounting pressure to call off the bonfire, and before he eventually did yesterday afternoon, Jones said he had received much encouragement for the plan. Supporters sent him copies of the Quran to burn, he said.

USA Today reported that Jones said in an interview he had not been contacted by the White House, State Department or Pentagon. If such a call comes, he said, "That would cause us to definitely think it over. That's what we're doing now. I don't think a call from them is something we would ignore."

At a news conference Wednes-day, Jones was flanked by an armed escort and said he had received more than 100 death threats since announcing in July that he would stage International Burn-a-Koran Day. The book, according to Jones, is evil because it espouses something other than biblical truth and incites radical, violent behaviour among Muslims.

Muslims consider the Quran the word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect. At least one cleric in Afghanistan said it is the duty of Muslims to react, and that could mean killing Americans.

Urged to be careful

Before the bonfire was called off, the Gainesville Police Department expected to be dealing with some 90,000 fans Saturday and even more tailgaters expected for the Florida-South Florida football game. The game is at 12:20 p.m. (1620 GMT) and the Quran burning was set for 6 p.m. (2200 GMT).

Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe condemned the church's plans.

General David Petraeus, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, emailed The Associated Press to say "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan - and around the world - to inflame public opinion and incite violence." It cames as an emotional debate continues over a proposed Islamic centre near the ground zero site of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.

Petraeus spoke Wednesday with Afghan President Karzai about the matter, according to military spokesman, Col Erik Gunhus.

"They both agreed that burning of a Quran would undermine our effort in Afghanistan, jeopardise the safety of coalition troopers and civilians," Gunhus said, and would "create problems for our Afghan partners ... as it likely would be Afghan police and soldiers who would have to deal with any large demonstrations."

Outrageous plans

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the pastor's plans were outrageous, and along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urged Jones to cancel the event.

Not just the Democratic administration has weighed in. Ex-Alaska governor and former Republican candidate for vice-president, Sarah Palin, said in a Facebook post that although people have the constitutional right to burn the Quran, doing so would be an "insensitive and an unnecessary provocation - much like building a mosque at ground zero".

Conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck wrote in an Internet blog that burning the Quran is like burning the flag or the Bible - something people can do in the United States, but shouldn't. Legal experts have said the burning would likely be protected by the First Amendment's right to free speech.

The foreign ministries of Pakistan and the Gulf nation of Bahrain issued some of the first official denunciations in the Muslim world, with Bahrain calling it a "shameful act which is incompatible with the principles of tolerance and coexistence". Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has also sent a letter to President Obama asking him to stop the bonfire.

Beginning of destruction

In Pakistan, about 200 lawyers and civil society members marched and burned a US flag in the central Pakistani city of Multan, demanding that Washington halt the burning of the Muslim holy book.

"If Quran is burned, it would be beginning of destruction of America," read one English-language banner held up by the protesters, who chanted "Down with America!"

Jones' Dove Outreach Center is independent of any denomination. It follows the Pentecostal tradition, which teaches that the Holy Spirit can manifest itself in the modern day. Pentecostals often view themselves as engaged in spiritual warfare against satanic forces.

The Vatican also denounced the protest and a religious watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said it would send a copy of the Quran to the Afghan National Army for every one that might be burned.

Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, wrote Jones a letter urging him not to proceed, according to a spokesman.

"It's never right to deface or destroy sacred texts or writings of other religions even if you don't agree with them," Franklin Graham said in a statement.

In 2001, Graham described Islam as evil. The US Army earlier this year rescinded his invitation to speak at a Pentagon prayer breakfast after a religious freedom group raised an objection, citing his past remarks.

Jones' neighbours in Gainesville, a city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus, also have said they disapprove. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organisations in the city have mobilised to plan inclusive events.