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11 countries speaking out against Koran burning in Florida

More than 10 countries have now condemned a Florida pastor's plan to burn the Koran in commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks of nine years ago. Here is what leaders are saying worldwide.

3. Bahrain

Hasan Jamali/AP
The Rev. Hani Aziz, left, Muhammad al-Zekri, cultural coordinator for the Bahrain Round Table for Dialogue between Sects, Religions and Cultures, center, and Muslim cleric Sheikh Salah bin Yousuf al-Jowder, right, deliver a statement Thursday, at the National Evangelical Church in Manama, Bahrain, denouncing as a 'detestable act' a Florida preacher's planned Sept. 11 Kuran burning.

  • By Stephen Kurczy Staff writer

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued a statement that called the Florida Koran burning a "shameful act which is incompatible with the principles of tolerance and coexistence."

The Associated Press reported that the Sept. 9 denouncement is among the first official denunciations in the Arab world against the planned torching of the Koran by the pastor of a small church in Gainesville, Fla.

Bahrain, meanwhile, came under fire from Amnesty International on the same day for blocking freedom of expression.

The country is more than 80 percent Muslim according to the the CIA World Factbook.

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