White House condemns Koran burning stunt as ‘un-American’

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the attacks. At a dinner in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, she said: "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths."

Angelina Jolie also attacked the pastor's plans. Visiting Pakistan in her role as US "goodwill ambassador", she said she had "hardly the words" to express her opposition to burning a religious text.

But the Rev Terry Jones insisted he would go ahead with his plans, despite a warning from the senior US general in Afghanistan that the burning could endanger US troops.

General David Petraeus warned that "images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan and around the world to inflame public opinion and incite violence".

Mr Jones said that, under the first amendment, the US Constitution gives him the right to publicly set fire to the book that Muslims consider the word of God.

He refused to cancel the protest on Saturday at his Dove World Outreach Centre in Florida, a church that calls Islam "the devil's religion".

He said: "How many times do we back down? Instead of us backing down, maybe it's time to stand up. Maybe it's time to send a message to radical Islam that we will not tolerate their behaviour.

"We think it's time to turn the tables and instead of possibly blaming us for what could happen, we put the blame where it belongs - on the people who would do it."

State Department spokesman P J Crowley said the Obama administration hoped Americans would condemn the church's plan. "We think that these are provocative acts," he said. "We would like to see more Americans stand up and say that this is inconsistent with our American values. In fact, these actions themselves are un-American."

Mr Jones, 58, said he had received more than 100 death threats and has started carrying a gun since he announced in July that he would stage "international burn-a-Koran day".

Mr Jones, who has about 50 followers, said people were sending him copies of the Koran for his bonfire.