Condemnation of Koran burning grows

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The top two US national security advisers in President Barack Obama's Cabinet denounced on Wednesday plans by a small church in Florida to burn the Muslim holy book to commemorate the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

They said destruction of Korans would inflame tensions and put Americans abroad at risk.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates echoed objections first raised by the US commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, who warned that the proposed weekend event would place the lives of American troops in jeopardy there and elsewhere. US officials in Iraq agreed.

Underscoring the administration's unease about the potential impact of the Koran burning, the State Department ordered US embassies and consulates around the world to assess their security and warn Americans if they believed anti-American protests might occur.

At least one post, the US Embassy in Algeria, issued a security alert on Wednesday.

In remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington, Clinton called the plans "outrageous" and "aberrational" and said they do not represent America or American values of religious tolerance and inclusiveness.

She also lamented that the tiny Dove World Outreach Centre congregation in Gainesville had got so much attention for what she called a "distrustful and disgraceful" means of marking the ninth anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks.

"It is regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Florida, with a church of no more than 50 people can make this outrageous and distrustful, disgraceful plan and get the world's attention, but that's the world we live in right now," Clinton said.

"It is unfortunate; it is not who we are," she said.

Through Pentagon spokesman David Lapan, Gates added his voice to the growing controversy.

"No one is questioning the right to do these things. We are questioning whether that's advisable considering the consequences that could occur," Lapan said.

"General Petraeus has been very vocal and very public on this, and his position reflects the secretary's as well."

Petraeus said on Tuesday that "images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan and around the world to inflame public opinion and incite violence."

In addition, General Ray Odierno, the former top commander in Iraq, said Wednesday he feared extremists would use the incident to sow hatred against US troops overseas.

In Iraq, where almost 50,000 American troops still are posted, US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey and the commander of US forces in Iraq, Geneneral Lloyd Austin, joined in the condemnation.

They calling the plan "disrespectful, divisive and disgraceful."

"As this holy month of Ramadan comes to a close and Iraqis prepare to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, we join with the citizens of Iraq and of every nation to repudiate religious intolerance and to respect and defend the diversity of faiths of our fellow man," they said in a joint statement released by the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Despite the widespread condemnation, church Pastor Terry Jones has vowed to go ahead with the event.

Clinton appealed for Jones to reconsider and cancel. In the event that he carries out the plan, she suggested to laughter from the audience, that the news media ignore it.

"We are hoping that the pastor decides not to do this," she said. "We're hoping against hope that if he does, it won't be covered as an act of patriotism."

"We want to be judged by who we are as a nation, not by something that is so aberrational and we will make that case as strongly as possible."

- AP