THE TELEGRAPH: A US pastor has said he may press ahead with plans to burns copies of the Koran on September 11 – just hours after announcing that the stunt had been cancelled.
Pastor Terry Jones, from the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, last night said that he had abandoned the event after receiving assurance that the planned Islamic centre and mosque near Ground Zero, the site of the attacks, in New York, would be relocated.
His announcement followed worldwide condemnation and warnings of a deadly Islamic backlash.
But Mr Jones later indicated that the burning may go ahead as planned, after the Muslim group behind the New York mosque said they had not agreed to any deal.
The pastor said: "Given what we are now hearing, we are forced to rethink our decision. So as of right now, we are not cancelling the event, but we are suspending it."
Mr Jones claimed he was "lied to" * after Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, and the leader of the New York mosque said that no agreement had been struck. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Toby Harnden in Gainesville | Friday, September 10, 2010
* Should we be surprised?
