State Department criticizes congressman for threats against Islamic sites

Washington (ANTARA News) - The US State Department criticized a US congressman and long-shot presidential candidate for saying that threatening to bomb the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina could deter terrorists from carrying out a nuclear attack on the United States.

"The official position of the United States government is that those remarks are just outrageous," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was quoted as saying Monday.

Republican congressman Tom Tancredo during a candidate debate on Sunday defended his earlier remarks threatening to strike Islam's holiest two sites to deter al-Qaeda from hitting the United States with a nuclear weapon.

More