Awwal 10, 1432 / April 14, 2011, SPA -- A US church delegation condemned a US priest's burning of a copy of the Holy Quran. The condemnation came during a meeting here today between Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Ali Asiri with the delegation led by representative of North Carolina State churches priest Shawki Paul accompanied by a representative of the gathering of Lebanese youth in the United States Fayez Hamdan. The delegation expressed its condemnation of the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran by US extremist priest Terry Jones. At the beginning of the meeting at the Saudi embassy in Beirut, Ambassador Asiri welcomed members of the delegation, hailing their visit to the headquarters of the Embassy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Beirut. He thanked them for their sincere feelings in condemning this shameful act. He said, "We are confident that what a person had done does not reflect the Christian religion and its adherents because what the Christians are doing is perfectly consistent with what is preached by divine religions. It hurts us that the burning of the Holy Quran comes at a time when the world is witnessing the initiative launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for dialogue among followers of religions and cultures, which must be promoted by exerting great efforts so that we can understand each other, because ignorance breeds preconceived hostility while dialogue, understanding and openness breed friendship and peaceful." The ambassador hailed the invitation launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for comprehensive dialogue among the followers of religions, cultures and civilizations and said, " We, Muslims, recognize Christianity and respect its book."
