MECCA: The imam of Mecca said on Friday that a US pastor`s threat to burn copies of the Koran was an incitement to "terrorism."

"The call to burn copies of our holy book is a form of terrorism and an incitement to terrorism," Saleh bin Humaid said in a sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, ending the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

With Saudi Arabia`s King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri among the sea of worshippers thronging Islam`s holiest city, Humaid said that burning the Koran would be "aggression against Islam."

"It is shameful to attribute this act to the freedom of expression," he said. "This is an act of aggression against Islam and its followers," added Humaid, who also heads the Supreme Judiciary Council.

"We call for more solid relations, bonds of understanding, mutual respect and cooperation among people," he said in the televised sermon, emphasising that Islam is "a religion of tolerance."

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida has threatened to burn dozens of copies of Islam`s holy book on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

On Thursday, he first announced he had cancelled the Koran burning ceremony, but later reiterated his threat after his claims of a deal over the proposed Islamic cultural centre near Ground Zero in New York dissolved in acrimony.

Muslim and non-Muslim leaders around the globe have condemned the Koran-burning project, with US President Barack Obama calling it dangerous and saying it could trigger a wave of extremist violence.

BDST 1905 HRS, SEP 10, 2010
TSA/MMK