The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy said he was determined to burn copies of the Koran on September 11, despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off.

Pastor Terry Jones said he has received a lot of encouragement for his protest, with supporters mailing copies of the Islamic holy text to his Gainesville church of about 50 followers.

The plan is to incinerated the Korans in a bonfire on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11. The Quran, according to Mr Jones, is “evil” because it espouses something other than biblical truth and incites radical, violent behaviour among Muslims.

“As of right now, we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing,” said Mr Jones, who took no questions.

Mr Jones said previously he has received more than 100 death threats and has started carrying a .40-calibre pistol since announcing his plan to burn the book Muslims consider the word of God and insist be treated with the utmost respect. The 58-year-old minister proclaimed in July that he would stage “International Burn-a-Koran Day.”

General David Petraeus, the top US and Nato commander in Kabul, took the rare step of a military leader taking a position on a domestic matter when he warned that “images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan – and around the world – to inflame public opinion and incite violence”.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the pastor’s plans were outrageous and urged Mr Jones to cancel the event. She added: “It is regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Florida, with a church of no more than 50 people can make this outrageous and distrustful, disgraceful plan and get the world’s attention, but that’s the world we live in right now.”

The Vatican denounced the planned Koran-burning as “outrageous and grave”.

Gainesville’s new mayor, Craig Lowe, who during his campaign became the target of a Jones-led protest because he is openly gay, has declared September 11 Interfaith Solidarity Day in the city. The fire department has denied Mr Jones a required burn permit, but he said lawyers have told him he has the right to burn the Korans, with or without the city’s permission.

In Afghanistan, Mr Jones’ planned burning continued to provoke outrage. “It is the duty of Muslims to react,” said Mohammad Mukhtar, a cleric and candidate for the Afghan parliament in the September 18 election. “When their holy book Koran gets burned in public, then there is nothing left. If this happens, I think the first and most important reaction will be that wherever Americans are seen, they will be killed. No matter where they will be in the world, they will be killed.”