Pastor to meet Imam to barter move of NY mosque

Gainesville, Sep 11: The controversial Florida Pastor, Terry Jones, who threatened to burn Qurans on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, has left to New York to hold talks on the relocation of the proposed Ground Zero mosque with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

In New York, Jones aims at persuading the Muslim preacher behind the planned Islamic cultural center near the site of the World Trade Center destroyed in the Sep 11, 2001 terror strike, to move the centre away from the spot in exchange of the cancellation of his planned Quran burning.

"Pastor Jones is not in Gainesville anymore. He is flying to New York and I myself paid his ticket and reserved a room for him tonight in New York," KA Paul, a friend of Jones, told an international news agency on Friday, Sep 10 night.

On Thursday, Sep 9, the Pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center said that he would drop the plans of burning the Muslim holy book on the 9/11 anniversary provided the Muslim leaders agree to move the proposed mosque away from New York's Ground Zero.

Jones announced his plans of burning the Quran, which he believes preaches radicalism and violence, in July 2010.

The Reverend's plans sparked off a controversy and prompted several leaders including President Barack Obama, army officials and religious leaders to warn him against holding the book burning.

The row took a new turn when a local Muslim leader, Muhammad Musri, met Jones, who had already received a direct appeal from Pentagon to cancel his 9/11 memorial event.

Jones who initially said that he had decided to cancel the book burning later stressed that it was only suspended as he claimed that Musri had delivered a false promise to move a proposed Islamic center.

Now, tension runs high in United States on the ninth anniversary of the Sep 11, 2001 attacks, which claimed 3,000 lives, as a lot depends on the meeting between Imam Rauf and Pastor Jones.

OneIndia News