'Saudi king might move controversial NY Ground Zero mosque to West Village'

New York, Dec 20 (ANI): A Manhattan lawyer with ties to the Saudi royal family has claimed that King Abdullah might move the controversial Ground Zero mosque away from its proposed site near the world Trade Centre to the West Village.

The New York Post quoted sources as saying that they have heard Attorney Dudley Gaffin's claim that Saudi Arabia might want to buy St. Vincent's Medical Center and transfer the mosque to a new Islamic cultural center he would build on a plot at the site.

Gaffin is asking "what it would take to put in a bid," one source said.

The paper quoted another source as saying: "He says the king wants to do this as a PR move to save the hospital and move the mosque away from the World Trade Center site. He wants to show that Muslims can do good works."

Sources also said Gaffin claimed to have discussed the topic with New York City Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, but representatives for both denied it.

"No one here has heard of this," said Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna.

Meanwhile, Daisy Khan, an adviser on the Ground Zero project, has denied reports that Abdullah would move the controversial mosque to another spot.

"No one has contacted me or my husband about it," the New York Daily News quoted her, as saying. (ANI)