US Commander warns against plan to burn the Koran

THE US commander of the Afghan war warned yesterday that a decision by American evangelicals to burn the Koran on September 11 would endanger his troops as the Muslim world reacted angrily to the plan.

General David Petraeus said the planned torching of Islam’s holy book by a Florida church would be a propaganda coup for the Taliban in Afghanistan and stoke anti-US sentiment across the Muslim world.

Protests have already gone ahead in the capital Kabul and in Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim-majority country – while Iran has warned that the burning could unleash an uncontrolled Muslim response.