[Al Arabiya] The Islamic cleric behind plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York warned Sunday that retreating on the project would only strengthen the hand of Muslim extremists around the world.
| "Nice little country ya got there. Be a shame anything happened to it..." |
Despite the warning, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf dodged the question when asked if he intended to keep the Islamic cultural center at its current site, two blocks from where al-Qaeda crashed planes into the World Trade Center. "The decisions that I will make -- that we will make -- will be predicated on what is best for everybody," he told ABC's "This Week" program.
| He's elsewhere said that, had he know the problems it would cause, he would have started with a different location, but to change now would be seen as a surrender. |
On Saturday's ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, thousands marched in dueling protests over the row, which was stoked by a Florida pastor's threat to burn the Quran to mark the occasion.
Terry Jones used his threat, which triggered demonstrations across the Muslim world, as a bargaining chip to try and get the mosque moved and flew to New York to meet the imam. |