U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Holder calls Koran burning 'idiotic and dangerous': religious leaderHolder calls Koran burning 'idiotic and dangerous': religious leader
by Saul Loeb
WASHINGTON-A religious leader who met with Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday said the top US law enforcement official described as "idiotic and dangerous" a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"He said, I quote him, 'The Gainesville plan is idiotic and dangerous,'" said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates.
Rabbi David Sapperstein of the Religious Action Network added that they held a "vigorous discussion," even though the attorney general has no power to intervene to stop the planned burning of Muslim holy books.
"A lot of protection is to come from local law enforcement," he told reporters. "We are confident that the attorney general, when he speaks, speaks very strongly to the American people."
Holder held the talks with religious leaders to discuss ways of confronting an anti-Islamic wave in the United States, amid plans by an evangelical pastor to hold a Koran-burning ceremony in Florida on Saturday.
The ceremony is to be led by Pastor Terry Jones, who has said the Koran torching aims "to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11," and to send a warning "to the radical element of Islam."
