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(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the planned burning of Qurans on the anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the United States as criticism mounts from Muslims around the world.
Speaking Tuesday at an iftar meal in Washington to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Clinton said she welcomed the concerns.
"I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths ... as well as secular U.S. leaders and opinion makers," she said.
On Wednesday the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan also condemned the Florida church's plan to burn the Quran, the Muslim holy book, as "disrespectful, intolerant and divisive," in a statement.
The statement comes days after the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, warned that the plan could put U.S. troops' lives at risk.
The pastor of the church, Terry Jones, told CNN Tuesday his flock was taking the warning seriously but had not decided to cancel the event, planned for September 11.
Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, told CNN's "American Morning:"We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it."
Later Tuesday, Jones had a response to the statement from Petraeus.
"The general needs to point his finger to radical Islam and tell them to shut up, tell them to stop, tell them that we will not bow our knees to them," Jones said on CNN's "AC360."
"We are burning the book," Jones said. "We are not killing someone. We are not murdering people."
The planned action has drawn sharp criticism from Muslims around the world and from U.S. officials.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday issued a statement saying the U.S. government "in no way condones such acts of disrespect against the religion of Islam, and is deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups."
It emphasized that it strongly condemned "the offensive messages, which are contrary to U.S. government policy and deeply offensive to Muslims especially during the month of Ramadan."
With about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
Petraeus said he was concerned about the political repercussions of the church's plan.
"Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday," he said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."
Thousands of Indonesians gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday to protest the planned Quran burning.
"The burning is not only an insult to the holy Quran, but an insult to Islam and Muslims around the world," said Muhammad Ismail, a spokesman for the hard-line Indonesian Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Jones said his congregation was aware that the action was offensive.
"We realize that this action would indeed offend people, offend the Muslims. I am offended when they burn the flag. I am offended when they burn the Bible. But we feel that the message that we are trying to send is much more important than people being offended."
Jones said Muslims are welcomed in the United States, if they observe the Constitution and don't try to impose Sharia law, or Muslim law. The message, he said, is directed toward the "radical element of Islam."
"Our message is very clear," he said. "It is not to the moderate Muslim. Our message is not a message of hate. Our message is a message of warning to the radical element of Islam, and I think what we see right now around the globe provides exactly what we're talking about," he said.
The center says it was founded in 1986 as a "total concept church for the rich, the poor, the young and the old." Its purpose is to "stand up for righteousness and for the truth of the Bible." It stresses that "Christians must return to the truth and stop hiding."
"We need to speak up against sin and call the people to repentance. Abortion is murder. Homosexuality is sin. We need to call these things what they are and bring the world the true message: that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life," it says on the church's website.
It also emphasizes its dislike of Islam, and on its website, it blog posts an item called "Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran.
"Any religion which would profess anything other than this truth is of the devil. This is why we also take a stand against Islam, which teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God, therefore taking away the saving power of Jesus Christ and leading people straight to Hell," the site says.
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Video After The JumpSinger El Debarge hasn't released a solo album since 1994, but he's making a comeback in a major way.
His new album 'Second Chance' has lots of star power with features from 50 Cent, Fabolous and Faith Evans, as well as production from Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
Vlad TV asked El how he hooked up with Fifty.
"We're mutual fans of each other, we enjoy each other's artistry and gift," El said. "So we were able to come together and put it down."
El also talks about attending T.I.'s wedding to Tiny and singing at the reception.
'Second Chance' is in stores September 28.
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Louisiana rap star Lil Boosie is literally in a fight for his life starting with his court appearance today.
Boosie, real name Torrance Hatch was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of 35 year old Terry Boyd. Police are also investigating what role he may have played in at least two other homicides according to AllHipHop.
A former employee of Boosie's Bad Azz Entertainment, Darryl “Bleek” Milton was found shot to death in his car April 1st.
Boosie is also a suspect in the shooting death of rapper Chris “Nussie” Jackson who was killed last February. Nussie and Boosie had been beefing for a while.
In a 2009 interview, Nussie explains the origins of their beef. Saying he used Boosie's name recogntion as Boosie "Bad Azz" to get in the game by calling himself "Nussie" Bad Azz.
But the beef goes way deeper than that. People suspected Nussie had something to do with the murder of Boosie's friend, rapper Lil Ivey.
Nussie sheds some light on that situation during the interview as he speaks about a confrontation he had with Boosie..
"I told ya [Boosie] I aint killed ya boy [Lil Ivy]. If I did it, me and you wouldn't be talking right now, you said 'alright brah.'"
Nussie didn't take Boosie as a serious threat in the streets.
"To be honest with you, we not on the same level to be beefing," Nussie said. "It's kind of embarrassing for me to be saying i'm beefing with Boosie. Cause Boosie a talented rapper and i'm a gangster, aint no comparison."
Boosie is also dealing with a fan base that looks up to him and kids that are confused by the situation he's gotten himself into.
His friend, Arthur "Silky Slim" Reed told WAFB, "I think the most important part for us to realize is there are hundreds of thousands of little kids that listen to him and this is their hero," Reed said. "When you come from basically nothing, these communities are basically nothing but survival camps. When someone makes it out, you look up to them."
"I don't have a huge amount to say about Boosie. Boosie has to stand up and be a man for his actions. My whole thing is that kids should see this as a turning point in their lives," Reed added.
Some fans are standing behind the rapper by posting "Free Boosie" messages on websites, but others are fed up.
A Facebook user by the name of "E.R." wrote "Boosie dumb as hell how u famous and still doin the same stuff u use to do, u suppose to exclude urself from that type of lifestyle and try and better others when u make it."
Boosie says he's innocent, but faces a tough legal battle. If convicted of 1st degree murder he faces the possibility of death by lethal injection.
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