Obama Defends Handling of Pastor with Quran-Burning Plans

U.S. President Barack Obama says the government was "obligated" to make it clear to the U.S. pastor planning to burn copies of the Quran that his actions would threaten U.S. troops.

President Obama told a news conference Friday that he does not believe the government "elevated the story" by contacting the Reverend Terry Jones.  He said officials needed to send a clear message that such behavior endangers U.S. soldiers and also would be a recruiting tool for al-Qaida.

Mr. Obama said it was necessary to take the issue seriously because it could cause the U.S. what he described as "profound damage around the world." He pointed to the response riots in Kabul as an example.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Jones and urged him not to go ahead with the Quran burning.  Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation also spoke to Jones at his Dove World Outreach Center, an independent church in Florida with about 50 members.

Jones now says he is no longer planning to burn the Quran, as long as he is able to meet with the imam behind a proposed Islamic center in New York near the site where the World Trade Center once stood.

Jones told U.S. media Friday that he is planning to meet with the New York cleric on Saturday.  But the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has denied any plans for such meeting.

Imam Rauf also expressed surprise at Jones' announcement Thursday that Muslim leaders had agreed to move the planned Islamic cultural center and mosque away from an area near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks.  He said there is no such agreement.

In response, the controversial pastor said he feels he was lied to by a Muslim cleric in his state of Florida, Imam Muhammad Musri, who had been helping to negotiate a settlement.

Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, denied that he misled the pastor, and said he is still trying to set up a meeting between himself, Jones and Rauf to discuss the proposed center.

Jones' plan to burn some 200 copies of the Quran on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks generated international outrage and condemnation from many religious and political leaders.

Jones said moving the planned Islamic cultural center in New York would accomplish his church's goals because, he said, "the American people do not want the mosque at the Ground Zero location."