Florida pastor calls off Qu'ran burning event

2010-09-09 23:11

Gainesville -  A US fundamentalist Christian pastor on Thursday called off his plan to burn copies of the Qu'ran this weekend, saying he had obtained a deal that involved moving the planned location of an Islamic cultural centre and mosque in New York.

Terry Jones, who heads the tiny, little-known Dove World Outreach Centre church based in Gainesville, Florida, told reporters an Islamic leader in New York had agreed to shift the planned site of the Muslim centre and mosque there away from near the Ground Zero location of the September 11 2001 attacks.

"The Imam has agreed to move the mosque, we have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday," Jones told reporters outside his church. He was accompanied by Imam Muhammad Musri, head of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

But in New York, sources close to New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said there was no agreement to move the site of the proposed Muslim cultural centre in the city.

The planned location of the project has been opposed by many who have said it is insensitive to families of the victims of the 2001 attacks by the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda.

"I, with the Imam (Musri), will be flying up there (New York) on Saturday to meet with the imam (Feisal Abdul Rauf) at the Ground Zero mosque," Jones said.

The Qu'ran-burning planned for Saturday on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States triggered worldwide condemnation and outrage, protests in some Muslim countries and warnings that Americans abroad could face violent retaliation.

- Reuters