Gainesville, Florida: The leader of a small church in Florida that espouses an anti-Islam philosophy said on Tuesday he was still praying about whether to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, a plan the White House, religious leaders and others are pressuring him to call off.
The Rev. Terry Jones, 58, said he has received more than 100 death threats and has started carrying a pistol but would not back off his plan. He said the death threats started not long after he proclaimed in July that he would stage "International Burn-a-Quran Day."
Supporters have kept mailing copies of the holy text to his church, the Dove World Outreach Centre.
Gen. David Petraeus took the rare step of a military leader taking a position on a domestic matter when he warned in an email that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence".
Jones responded that he is also concerned but is "wondering, ‘When do we stop?'" He refused to cancel the protest but said he was still praying about it.
"How much do we back down? How many times do we back down?" he said.
