Bahrain calls plans for Quran burning in US ’shameful’ act of intolerance

Bahrain calls Quran burning plans ’shameful’

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain says plans by a Florida church to burn copies of the Quran are 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 U.S. 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 U.S. Fifth Fleet.