Quran burning was ‘unrepresentative’

May 01, 2012: A top Indonesian Muslim official on Monday claimed the actions of a US pastor who burned a Qur’an “did not represent Christian groups.”
Calling the second book-burning stunt by Pastor Terry Jones on April 28 “anarchic”, Mochamad Iqbal Sullam, secretary general of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic group, said discussion among religious leaders could help avoid “misunderstandings”.
In front of some 20 members of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Pastor Jones burned the copies and an image during a ceremony as a way of demanding the release of Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.
Nadarkhani is believed to be on death row for charges on apostasy and other religious crimes. Born a Muslim, he was given the option by the court to embrace Islam and his refusal to do so led his arrest in 2009.
Theophilus Bela, secretary general of the Indonesian Committee on Religions for Peace, claimed “people like Pastor Terry Jones only represent a small group which has no meaning in their own country.”