Florida officials ban church's Quran burning bid

City officials in Gainesville, Florida, have denied a burning permit to a local church that wants to burn copies of the Quran on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Gainesville officials say book burnings like the one planned by the Dove World Outreach Center are prohibited under the city's burning ordinance.Interim Fire Chief Gene Prince further warned Wednesday that the church would face a fine if it went ahead with the burnings.

The Dove World Outreach Center had announced the planned Quran burning last month on Facebook and urged other religious groups to join "in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam".

“We only did it because we felt there needed to be an outcry against Islam, because Islam is presenting itself as a religion of peace,” explained Senior Dove World Pastor Terry Jones.

Despite the warning from officials, Jones, who has written a book called "Islam is of the Devil", sent out an e-mail saying the church would still burn Qurans.

The Quran burning has been condemned by a number of Muslim and Christian groups.