New Yorkers outraged by Muslim group's plan to build grand mosque near Ground Zero

New York, May 17 (ANI): An Islamic group's plan for converting a damaged building two blocks from the Ground Zero pit where the World Trade Towers once stood, into a grand multimillion dollar mosque, has met with shock and outrage in New York.

There is still a possibility though that the project might be put off sine die due to lack of funding.

The Cordoba Initiative, a sister organisation of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the organisation that conceived the idea for the mosque, is already under the scanner for what could be partial disclosure of assets.

Feisal Abdul Rauf, a debonair and media-savvy imam and his wife Daisy Khan, helm the project, but thus far the couple has remained reserved about the sponsorship.

Rauf says that his aim is to "build an American Muslim identity," the New York Post reports.

"What we need is to evolve just like the Greeks and the Italians who came here and became Americans. It takes time to create an American religious identity," he added.

According to the paper, Cordoba Initiative, listed assets of less than 20,000 dollars in 2008. Its tax filings do not disclose at least 60,000 dollars in private contributions, a New York Post analysis found, raising questions about where the money went. (ANI)