Christians must be spared any harm, says senior intellectual

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: A leading Iraqi intellectual on Friday called for respecting Christians and sparing them any harms as part of reactions to a U.S. pastor’s calls to burn books of the holy Quran on the 9/11 anniversary. “We have to prevent any possible harms against our Christian brothers as reactions to the U.S. pastor’s call to burn the Holy Quran,” according to Khalid al-Mulla, the leader of Iraq’s scholars and intellectuals association, in statements to IraqiNews.com news agency. “The stand adopted by the Christian clergymen has become very clear as they offer an apology to their brothers in the Muslim world and express respect and appreciation for the Quran,” Mulla added. Christian local residents of Baghdad denounced plans by a U.S. church to burn books of the Quran on the 9th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Iraqi Christians in the capital Baghdad agreed that the plans to burn the Muslim holy book are running counter to the teachings of the Christian faith that respect all divine religions. A Quran burning ceremony to take place at a Florida church on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks has provoked international condemnation from military and political leaders to celebrities. It is feared the event at the Dove World Outreach Centre, an evangelical church in Gainesville, will put the lives of coalition forces serving in Afghanistan at risk and inflame religious tensions worldwide. Senior figures in the US have denounced the ceremony, which marks the ninth anniversary of the terrorist atrocities, as contrary to American values, while religious figures from around the globe branded the move “abhorrent” and “disrespectful”. However, Terry Jones, the church’s pastor has remained defiant, insisting that the plans to burn 200 Qurans on Saturday will go ahead despite mounting pressure. U.S. President Barack Obama said: “This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities. This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda. “If he (Rev Jones) is listening, I hope he understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans. That this country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance.” AmR (I) 1