Mention of bombing holy sites decried

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Top U.S. and Turkish officials yesterday condemned comments made last week by Rep. Tom Tancredo that the United States could "take out" Islamic holy sites if there was a nuclear attack on the United States by Muslim fundamentalists.

The Colorado Republican refused to apologize yesterday, saying his comments had been taken out of context.

On Friday, Tancredo was asked by a radio talk-show host how the United States should respond if terrorists struck several of its cities with nuclear weapons.

"Well, what if you said something like — if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," said talk-show host Pat Campbell of WFLA in Orlando, Fla.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

When asked yesterday to clarify his comments, Tancredo said he never said he wanted to bomb Mecca or Medina, but he did not explain whether he would support bombing the Muslim holy sites if the United States' nuclear reserves were attacked by terrorists.

"If these nuclear devices did go off, there'd be a lot of people thinking about worse than that," he said, adding that he wanted to think about ways to prevent a terrorist attack.

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called the statements Tancredo made Friday "insulting and offensive." He said Americans "respect the dignity and sanctity of other religions."