Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam at the heart of the effort to build a New York City Islamic cultural center (most have been calling it a mosque) within two blocks of ground zero, has strongly denied the claims of Pastor Terry Jones that the structure will be moved. Jones earlier cancelled his planned Quran burning, saying he had received a promise the NYC mosque would be moved.
Jones is Pastor of small Dove World church
Terry Jones is the pastor of the small Dove World Outreach Center outside Gainesville, FL. He and his flock, which numbers from 30 - 50 depending on the report, had planning to burn a number of Quran texts on Saturday, the 9th anniversary of 9/11.
While many, including the Vatican, and government officials had pleaded with Jones to cancel the burning, he steadfastly refused. On Thursday, the web site hosting company Rackspace shut down the church's site, saying it "violated the hate-speech provision of our acceptable-use policy." Meanwhile, Jones saw his application for a permit to burn denied, yet he planned to move forward anyway.
Late on Thursday, however, Jones said he was cancelling the burning. The reason, he said, was that he had been promised that the aforementioned cultural center would be moved. Still later, however, Rauf denied the assertion, saying, "I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri (of Florida). I am surprised by their announcement. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony."
Following that statement, Pastor Jones held a second press conference. He said that he had been lied to, but added that he still wanted to meet with Rauf on Saturday.
At the first press conference, Jones said he had met with Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida and that Musri had told him that officials would promise that the mosque would be moved. Jones said, "I asked him three times, and I have witnesses. If it's not moved, then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that."
Mursi, however, had a different view. After the first press conference, he said that instead he offered a meeting between Rauf, Jones, and and himself to discuss moving the mosque.
It now appears that instead of what Jones claimed, it was a call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to change Jones' mind. Jones had earlier said that a call from the Pentagon, State Department or White House might make him reconsider his plan.
With regards to a possible burning now that there is a chance that the agreement that Jones believes he was given will fall through, MSNBC reported that since Jones will not be present in Florida on Saturday, the burning will not happen, no matter what.
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