Brits Prepare to Ban Our 'Koran-Burner' Preacher

(Newser) – British officials are seriously considering blocking an upcoming visit from a US evangelical preacher who has advocated burning the Koran. Florida pastor Terry Jones has been invited by the English Defense League to speak out against Islam at a rally. The preacher has been "on the radar" of Britain's home secretary for months, said the minister, who announced that she's "actively looking at" whether he should be banned from the nation. She can block anyone who threatens national security or who is not "conducive" to the public good, reports the BBC.

Jones said he only plans to speak out against "radical Islam" and not all Islam. Banning him would be "unfair" and "unconstitutional" in the US, he complained. The Defense League is already touting the visit by Jones, who it's boasting will "speak out against the evils of Islam." Jones said he has no intention of burning the Koran in Britain, where Muslims make up some 2.4 million of the population. "Terry Jones is coming here to whip up Islamophobia and racism," charged a spokesman for the British group Unite Against Fascism.