US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has strongly condemned threats by a Flordia church to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

During a State Department dinner to celebrate Ramadan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined top officials and religious leaders in denouncing a church in Florida that plans to burn the holy Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this weekend.

Clinton said there is no room in US culture, in the past or present, for religious intolerance.

"Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. Many of you know that in 1790, George Washington wrote to a synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, that this country will give 'to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.'

A pastor at the Florida church and his 50 member congregation say they plan to burn the holy books to send a warning to Islamic radicals.

Already, the threat alone has sparked angry protests in Muslim countries around the world. The church says it has not decided definitively whether to go through with the act.