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Video: Pastor Terry Jones's plan to burn the Koran does not represent the West, says Tony Blair

Video: Pastor Terry Jone’s plan to burn the Koran does not represent the West, says Tony Blair

Tony Blair, founder and Patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation tells Channel 4 News that plans by Christian Pastor Terry Jones to burn copies of the Koran in the US does not represent the West, as President Barack Obama warns it could be used as a recruitment tool for al Qaida.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON THE CHANNEL 4 NEWS WEBSITE

Tony Blair who set up a Faith Foundation just over two years ago, told Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon, the Koran burning threat in the US is not representative of the western world.

He said: "This will undoubtedly be used by people who want to exploit these issues to say 'this shows what the west thinks of Islam; what Christians think of Muslims', and of course it's completely wrong, but this is why it's such a stupid and disgraceful and disrespectful thing to do.

"There is fragility and what is important is for Muslims to hear from people like me and to know that the pastor does not represent us any more than extremists represent the truth about Islam.

"A pastor with a congregation of fifty does not represent us any more, frankly, than the extremists who carry out acts of violence and do so allegedly in the name of Islam, they don’t represent the truth about Islam. There are extremes and people who act in an extreme manner in every religious faith, but it doesn't make them represent the faith."