Obama in plea against plan to burn Koran

PRESIDENT Barack Obama warned that an obscure US Christian pastor’s plan to burn the Koran tomorrow to mark September 11 could provoke al-Qaida suicide bombings, as Asian countries urged Washington to prevent the act.

“This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida,” Obama said in an ABC television interview. “You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities.”

Terry Jones, leader of a Protestant church of about 30 members in Gainesville, Florida, is planning to burn copies of the Islamic holy book tomorrow, the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.