Eleanor Hall reported this story on Thursday, September 13, 2012 12:20:00

ELEANOR HALL: The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff today called on the pastor of a small fundamentalist church in Florida to withdraw his support for the film about the prophet Mohammad which has been linked to the violent protests across the Middle East and the death of the US ambassador in Libya.



Pastor Terry Jones made headlines around the world two years ago with his plan to burn the Koran on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.



He spoke to me from his church in Florida this morning.



Pastor Jones, what is your involvement in this film?



TERRY JONES: Uh, yeah we were contacted by the producer there of the film several weeks ago. Basically our involvement is we have talked to him several times and he desired for us to promote the film. Our contacts of course, because of our involvement with raising awareness of radical Islam.



ELEANOR HALL: What was your reaction when you heard that protests over this film had either sparked or been used as cover for an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi which killed the US ambassador there?



TERRY JONES: Yeah, I think it is definitely used as cover. I mean I think this is a typical Islamic or let's say radical Islamic reaction. As we know they do not tolerate criticism of the Koran, of the prophet Mohammad or even or sharia law.



ELEANOR HALL: Well, General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says he spoke to you by phone today and asked you to withdraw your support for the film. Did you agree to do that?



TERRY JONES: Uh, that is correct. I did speak to him this morning. As I told him, yeah, we first need to think about it. I have not viewed the entire film myself. I have only viewed the trailer and that is what we have supported. That is what we have put out on our press release today, that 13 minute trailer.



I understand his concerns. We share those concerns. My only problem with that which was the question back to him is how long do we appease Islam, how far do we back down? Because we are in this condition because we did back down and it is actually only going to get worse if we do not stand up.



ELEANOR HALL: So are you saying you still want to show this film?



TERRY JONES: That's not what I'm saying. What I told him that I would watch the film, I would review the film and taking consideration of course what he said, taking consideration of what happened and evaluate whether or not showing the film would be productive.



At this particular time I definitely lean towards not showing the film because I think through the actions that we have done and as I said we have shown the trailer, I believe that we have again showed the world that Islam is not a religion of peace. It is a very dangerous religion. It is a religion to be watched.



In my opinion I believe radical Islam poses the greatest risk to our national security.



ELEANOR HALL: Are you saying that in showing the 13 minutes of this film it was your intention to reveal the violence of Islam? In other words it was your intention to incite violence?



TERRY JONES: It was definitely not our intention to incite violence. It was also not our intention through the film to show the radical element of Islam. It was our intention to reveal that Islam has and indeed it does have and the fruits are obvious, it has a violent past. That Islam, Islam has a very violent element and foundation in its religion.



ELEANOR HALL: There's a lot of speculation about the identity of the film maker. Can you tell us who he is?



TERRY JONES: I actually can not. The name that he is using right now is not his real name.



ELEANOR HALL: Do you accept any responsibility for the death of the US ambassador because of your support for this film?



TERRY JONES: No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.



ELEANOR HALL: Do you think you or the film makers could be prosecuted under US law for inciting religious hatred?



TERRY JONES: No, no, not at all because we are within the, within our rights of the first amendment and the first amendment, the freedom of speech, freedom of speech is not always pleasant and sometimes the results of that are tragical.



ELEANOR HALL: Pastor Jones, thanks for your time.



TERRY JONES: Oh, thank you.



ELEANOR HALL: That's Pastor Terry Jones who as we heard is backer of the controversial film and is yet to decide whether he will screen it in full.