Ground Zero imam blames Palin for fueling a "growing Islamophobia" in US

London, Sept 13 (ANI): The Islamic cleric supporting the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has accused former Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, of being "disingenuous" and fuelling a "growing Islamophobia" in the United States, which led to the burning of Korans on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

According to the BBC, although the Reverend Terry Jones abandoned his "international burn a Koran day" in Florida on Saturday, few instances were the ported in Tennessee and New York where copies of the Koran were set alight.

Imam Rauf said Palin's intervention had been "disingenuous" and played a part of the issue being "hijacked by the radicals" over the summer.

"What has happened is that..certain politicians decided that this project would be very useful for their political ambitions. This had prompted a growing Islamophobia in the US," he added.

In Springfield and Tennessee, two evangelical pastors, Bob Old and Danny Allen burned Koran to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11th atrocities.

"It's about faith, it's about love, but you have to have the right book behind you. This is a book of hate, not a book of love," said the Rev Old said as he held up a Koran.

In a separate incident in New York, an unidentified man ripped pages from a Koran and lit them near the proposed site of the Islamic centre.

"If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran," he said. (ANI)