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Quran Burning Protests Erupt in Afghanistan

   VOA News 10 September 2010
   Afghans shout anti-U.S. slogans as they burn tires and block a highway
   during  a  protest in reaction to a small American church's threats to
   burn copies of the Quran

Photo: AP

   Afghans shout anti-U.S. slogans as they burn tires and block a highway
   during  a  protest in reaction to a small American church's threats to
   burn copies of the Quran, at Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, 10
   Sept. 2010

   Thousands  of  people across Afghanistan took to the streets Friday to
   protest a U.S. pastor's threats to burn copies of the Quran.Â
   One  man  was  shot  and  killed  outside  a  NATO base in the city of
   Fayzabad in northern Badakhshan province. Â
   Security  officials say clashes took place when protesters poured into
   the  streets after traditional prayers marking the start of the Muslim
   holiday  Eid-al-Fitr.   Authorities  say some of the protesters broke
   off  to hurl rocks at the NATO base stationed there, prompting clashes
   with security forces who rushed in to quell the violence.
   During  a  message  to  mark the start of Eid-al-Fitr, President Hamid
   Karzai  criticized the U.S. pastor's threats to burn the Quran, saying
   the  Quran  cannot  be harmed because it is in the hearts and minds of
   all Muslims.
   In  neighboring  Pakistan,  hundreds  of people in the central city of
   Multan  demonstrated  against threats to burn the Quran.  Some burned
   American flags.
   The  pastor  of  the  small  Florida  church  at  the  center  of  the
   controversy,  Reverend  Terry  Jones,  had  originally planned to burn
   hundreds of copies of the Quran on Saturday to coincide with the ninth
   anniversary  of  the  September  11  terrorist  attacks  on the United
   States.  He announced Thursday he was suspending the protest, but has
   not  cancelled it outright.  He is seeking a meeting in New York City
   with  the iman behind a proposed Islamic center in there near the site
   where the World Trade Center once stood.
   The  pastor's  plans  have  created  an  international  firestorm  and
   prompted  top political figures, including President Barack Obama, and
   religious leaders to issue statements condemning the plans.
   The  pastor  has been repeatedly warned that the burning copies of the
   Quran could
   provoke  a backlash of anger and violence and put U.S. soldiers' lives
   in danger.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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