Pak asks Interpol to stop 'insane' pastor from burning Quran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned an American pastor's plans to burn copies of the Quran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and asked Interpol to stop the "insane" man from going ahead with the move.President Asif AliZardari expressed grave concern over the pastor's threat and believed thatanyone "who even thought of such a despicable act must be suffering from adiseased mind and a sickly soul," according to his spokesman FarhatullahBabar.Such an act will "inflame sentiments among Muslims throughoutthe world and cause irreparable damage to interfaith harmony and world peace,"Babar said.The President has called for "doing all that it takes tostop such a senseless and outrageous act," he said.Separately,Interior Minister Rehman Malik, in a letter addressed to Interpol SecretaryGeneral Ronald Noble, said Interpol should stop "insane" pastor Terry Jones fromburning the Quran.Malik drew Interpol's attention to the "veryserious and grave" issue, which is a crime against humanity and an"international offence" as it could affect global peace andharmony."Interpol must play its role to stop this heinous criminalact by insane Terry Jones as it will bring irreversible damage to world peace,especially when the world is fighting against all kind of acts of terrorism," hesaid.Malik asked Noble to take up the issue with US authorities tostop the "crazy so-called priest from this highly criminalact.""Muslim Ummah would be outraged by such an act and the feelingsof Muslims should be respected," he said.Foreign Office spokesmanAbdul Basit said Pakistan denounces the planned "shameful burning of 200 copiesof the Holy Quran by a small Florida church on September 11.""Thegovernment and the people of Pakistan, including Christians, are outraged atthis planned act by a self- proclaimed pastor. This is against the spirit of anyreligion and is, therefore, being rightly denounced by the entire internationalcommunity," he told a weekly news briefing.Pakistan urges "adherentsof all religions and faiths to strongly condemn this fanatic approach and opposethose, who in the name of freedom and liberty, are resorting to bigotry andundermining the work that has been done towards promoting interfaith harmonysince 9/11," he said.