Koran row claims its first lives as Obama denies fuelling fury

BARACK Obama was last night waiting to find out if his plea for religious tolerance had persuaded an obscure pastor to withdraw his threat to burn copies of the Koran.

• Terry Jones greets Imam Muhammad Musri Picture: Paul J Richards/Getty

His call for calm came after a day of protest across Afghanistan that saw the deaths of three people and was accompanied by the President's denial of suggestions that his handling of the crisis had fanned the flames of the religious row, which escalated violently on the eve of the September 11 anniversary.

After intense pressure from the White House, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small independent church in Florida, appeared to be turning his back on his plans to burn the Koran on today's anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

But he did leave open the dangerous possibility that he could change his mind if the Muslim leaders planning to build an Islamic centre and mosque near to the site of the September 11 attacks failed to get in touch with him. Mr Jones, who had planned an "International Burn-a-Koran Day", issued his ultimatum after much uncertainty about where the mosque would eventually be sited.

The pastor initially called off his book-burning protest on Thursday night, saying he had been promised the centre's location would be changed. But then it emerged no such commitment had been made by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf causing Mr Jones to reconsider his stance.

Last night Mr Jones called on the imam to get in touch with him - giving the Muslim leader a two-hour deadline. Imam Rauf replied saying that he would consider meeting "anyone committed to peace" - a statement that did not amount to a commitment to Mr Jones's wish for the mosque to be moved.

Standing outside his church, the Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, Mr Jones introduced K A Paul, a controversial Christian preacher who has been praying with the pastor. Mr Paul said the message to Imam Rauf was "crystal clear".

"There is a confusion going on. We want to clear that confusion," he said.

Mr Paul gave out his own telephone number and that of another pastor and urged Imam Rauf to contact him either directly or through the media to discuss whether he was prepared to meet Mr Jones. Mr Paul said it was legally acceptable for the Islamic centre to be built near the Ground Zero site of the Twin Towers destroyed in the 2001 attacks but not morally acceptable.

"Is it the right thing to burn the Koran? Legally can the pastor burn the Koran tomorrow?" Mr Paul asked. He then hinted that the burning would not go-ahead saying: "Legally it's right but is it the right thing to do? No."

As confusion reigned over whether or not Mr Jones would go-ahead with his incendiary gesture, protests were reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday, as people emerged from Eid prayers marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Three people were shot by private security guards when a protest near a Nato base in north-east Afghanistan turned violent. Another 11 people were injured.

Some demonstrators burned a US flag and chanted "Death to Christians".

In Badakhshan's provincial capital Faizabad, 1,500 people took to the streets. About 150 people took part in another protest in the city, throwing rocks and attempting to climb the walls of a Nato facility where German soldiers are based.

There were also major rallies in Kabul over the past week and rallies were also held in several of Afghanistan's 34 provinces on Friday:

During a White House press conference, the President defended his actions and denied that his intervention had elevated the controversy to greater prominence.

The FBI had visited Mr Jones to urge him to reconsider his plans and he had been telephoned by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

"In the age of the internet it is something that can cause us profound damage around the world, so we've got to take it seriously," Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama repeated his warning that the book burning would act as a recruiting sergeant for al-Qaeda and called for Americans to stand together.

"We have to make sure we don't start turning on each other," Mr Obama said.

The President repeated his fears the burning would endanger the lives of US troops and said he hoped that the Koran would not be burned as he called for religious tolerance.

"We are all Americans that stand together against those that would do us harm. It is absolutely important now for the overwhelming majority of American people to hang on to that thing that is best in us - that is our belief in religious tolerance, our clarity about who our enemies are," he said.

"I will do everything I can, as long as I am president of the United States, to remind the American people that we are one nation under God. We may call that god different names but we are one nation."

Mr Obama added: "The idea that we would burn the sacred text of someone else's religion is contrary to what this nation stands for, contrary to what this nation was founded on My hope is that this individual prays on it and refrains from doing it."