Pastor Terry Jones arrested before planned Koran-burning stunt

A controversial Florida pastor was arrested before he carried out a plan to burn almost 3,000 copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, US media reported.

Terry Jones, 61, was detained on Wednesday in the town of Mulberry, near Tampa, and faces charges of transporting fuel illegally and openly carrying a firearm, the Orlando Sentinel said.

Deputies said Jones was riding in a pickup truck that was towing a trailer carrying a large barbecue-like grill filled with kerosene-soaked Korans. He also had extra bottles of the fuel inside the truck bed.

According to Jones' website, he had plans to burn 2,998 Korans in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, one for each victim of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Jones was arrested with associate pastor Marvin Sapp, 44, minutes before the scheduled burning.

In 2010, as pastor of Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, Jones threatened to burn copies of the Koran, drawing outrage from the US and abroad, before he called the plan off.