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Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (C), speaks while flanked by Dr. Ingrid Mattson (R), President, Islamic Society of North America, and other religious leaders during a news conference denouncing the growing intolerance against the Islamic faith on September 7, 2010 in Washington, DC. Various religious leaders attended the news conference to lend their support to the Muslim community as a fringe group named the Dove World Outreach Center has announced it's plan to hold a burning of the Quran on September 11. Image Credit: AFP

Manama: Bahrain says the plan by a Florida church to burn copies of the Quran is a shameful attack on efforts for dialogue between faiths.

The statement by Bahrain's Foreign Ministry on Thursday is among the first official denunciations in the Arab world against the planned torching of Islam's holy book.

The pastor at the Florida church is vowing to go ahead with the Saturday burning despite protests. Gen. David Petraeus, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, worries it will enflame Muslim extremists.

Bahrain's government calls it a "shameful act which is incompatible with the principles of tolerance and coexistence."

Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet.