Mosque developers not interested in NY Governor's offer to find new site

New York, Aug.12 (ANI): New York Governor David Paterson has said that developers of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero's have not responded to his offer to find a new site for the controversial project.

"I think that they would like to stay where they are," the New York Post quoted Paterson as saying a day after offering public land for the proposed site, which has sparked a national outcry for its proximity to the area where the World Trade Center once stood.

"I certainly respect that and I certainly respect them. How much more foresighted would it have been if the imam who is the developer of the project had been willing to hear what we actually were talking about?" Paterson asked.

He said most opponents of the mosque are not trying to trample on religious freedoms, but have an emotional reaction over being "badgered over the last decade" by the woes that followed Sept. 11. (ANI)