US pastors hold Quran ‘guilty’ during church ‘trial’,burn it

Pak condemns act,US says the deed is abhorrent.

Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the desecration of the Quran by two American pastors,describing it as a “despicable act” aimed at provoking “dissent and discord among communities and people across the world”.

The leadership and government of Pakistan have condemned the “despicable act of the burning” of the Quran by pastors Wayne Sapp and Terry Jones at Florida in the US,said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Commenting on this matter,Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said “such a reprehensible act could only be the work of extremists and is evidently designed to provoke dissent and discord among communities and people across the world.”

President Asif Ali Zardari too condemned the desecration of the Quran during his address to a joint sitting of parliament this afternoon. “I,on behalf of the people and government,and my behalf strongly condemn the deliberate desecration of the Holy Quran by a fanatic in Florida,” he said.

“We condemn this act in the strongest possible words. It is a serious setback to the efforts at promoting harmony among civilised communities throughout the world,” he added.

Minister of State Khar said such sacrilegious acts go against the concept of inter-faith harmony. “There could be no justification for such acts. This has deeply hurt the feelings

of the people of Pakistan and Muslims all over the world,” she said.

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Pakistan expects the US administration,the American people and all civilised societies to take “due cognisance and express their revulsion on this sacrilegious act,” the Foreign Office statement said.

“As a strong proponent of inter-faith harmony,Pakistan believes that in troubled times,civilised peoples and societies must resist and oppose any tendency towards extremism of any kind,” the statement said.

The US Embassy,in a statement issued on Tuesday,condemned the burning of the Quran in Florida and described it as “an isolated act done by a small group of people that is contrary to American traditions.”

The event did not reflect the “general sentiment of respect toward Islam by the people of the US,” said Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez.

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“The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act,” said US Ambassador Cameron Munter.

“The US commitment to freedom of religion and freedom of expression goes back to the founding of our nation and is enshrined in the constitution. We absolutely reject religious intolerance in any form,” he said.

The American pastors burnt the Quran on Sunday after the holy book was found “guilty” during a “trial” at a church in Florida.