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.

9. Germany

Michael Sohn/AP
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles at the beginning of a meeting of the cabinet at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 8.

As in the United States, Germany's political and military leaders have spoken out strongly.

“If a fundamentalist, evangelical pastor in America wants to burn the Koran on September 11, then I find this simply disrespectful, even abhorrent and simply wrong," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse.

Brig. Gen. Hans-Werner Fritz, the commander of German troops in Afghanistan, also condemned the action.

“I only wish this wouldn't happen, because it would provide a trigger for violence towards all ISAF troops, including the Germans in northern Afghanistan," he said, according to The Telegraph.

Germany has more than 3 million practicing Muslims, according to the CIA World Factbook.

It also has a small band of Christians with a particular connection to Rev. Terry Jones: he used to be their pastor, until they kicked him out last year. An unnamed church member told Germany's largest news magazine, Der Spiegel, that he created a "climate of fear and control" in the Cologne-based congregation.

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